It's In The Blood
by Dragon eye21
Summary: Harry Potter just finished his third year and his summer is taking an odd turn. Is it for the better or will it end up destroying him? Can he break the chains that everyone wants to place on him? Only time will tell. Dark Lord Harry, Vampire Harry.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **Other than my own OC's I own nothing of the Harry Potter Universe.

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CHAPTER ONE

Harry Potter stood beneath a tall maple tree late at night enjoying the silence that surrounded him. It was July thirtieth but nearing midnight and his fourteenth birthday. Unfortunately, Harry was paying little attention to that. Something had been happening to him lately that he couldn't figure out the reason for. He had grown restless at night to the point where he wouldn't be able to go to sleep until the sun had started peeking over the horizon, making it so he slept during the day and was wide awake at night. His appetite had progressively decreased over the past month and he had gotten to the point where his last meal had been a little over forty eight hours ago. Surprisingly though, Harry felt almost no side effects from his lack of food. In fact, the sight of food had begun to make him nauseous.

The Dursley's hardly noticed the changes he was going through. To them, it was out of sight out of mind when it came to Harry. As long as he remained secluded and out of the way, they didn't bother him. Harry hadn't actually seen or spoken with any of them in several days because of his tendency to sleep until the sun had gone down after which he lingered in his room until they had all gone to sleep. No doubt they attributed Harry's strange behavior to his 'freakishness' and merely ignored it. Harry on the other hand, couldn't ignore it. He had contemplated sending a letter to Sirius and asking him questions but after more thought he decided not to because of two reasons. The first being that the fewer letters sent to Sirius the better considering he was a fugitive and the second was that he would probably sound rather ridiculous. Honestly, who wouldn't sound ridiculous complaining about a change in sleep patterns and lack of appetite?

Harry's thoughts were distracted from their wanderings when pain lanced through his body. The intensity of the pain forced him to double over and fall to his knees. His insides felt like they were on fire. He felt his bones break and shift and then mend themselves. A scream was torn from Harry's throat as each of his joints snapped out of their sockets, pulled against his muscles and ligaments before they snapped back into place. He screamed again as his rib cage expanded and moved in a most painful and uncomfortable way. His fingers shifted and cracked while his mouth felt like he was having his teeth pulled without any pain medication whatsoever.

As much as he wanted to, as much as he hoped it would happen, Harry didn't black out from all the pain and experienced every ounce of what he was going through, enduring it for what seemed like hours. By the time the pain finally stopped, what felt like hours to Harry, and when his vision finally cleared he was laying face first in the grass, panting and twitching from the experience and residual pain. As his faculties slowly returned, Harry realized three things. First, he was inconceivably and almost painfully thirsty. So much so that his throat felt like the Sahara. Second, the most enticing and mouth watering scent was filling his nostrils, and third, there were people standing around him. At least four people were standing over him talking and occasionally laughing. He could understand what they were saying but his brain wasn't processing the words due to its preoccupation with something else that was running through his mind.

One of the people surrounding him gave a hearty laugh before bending down and roughly gripped Harry's arm and started to drag him across the ground. The person had only just started pulling when Harry moved. In the single blink of an eye, Harry was standing and gripping the man by the throat. The guy reacted out of reflex and punched Harry in the face. Given that the man was a member of a pathetic little gang that tended to hang out in the park after sunset, a reason Harry tended to leave the park long before they ventured here, the reflex was understandable but Harry hardly noticed. His glasses broke but Harry didn't feel the impact and barely registered the cracking sound that signaled the man's fingers breaking. The only thing he really noticed was the insatiable thirst that plagued his throat.

Lost in a blood red haze, Harry didn't think as he mercilessly sank his teeth into the man's throat at the joint where his neck met his shoulders. Blood rushed into Harry's mouth and he felt relief as the delicious liquid ran down his throat. The man screamed in pain but it quickly died as he fell unconscious as his body was drained of all his blood. When he had drained every last drop, Harry released his grip and allowed the body to fall to the ground in a heap. The other gang members stared in shock, horror, and disgust at the sight before them and they quickly turned tail and ran. Harry, hardly satisfied with only one meal, quickly had another person in his grasp before they had gone more than two steps. In a matter of moments that one was drained as well and Harry moved on to the next. He could have stopped after the third but he didn't need rumors flying around and reaching the wrong ears. So, he ran after the fourth person and drained him as well.

When at last his thirst was sated, Harry came out of his haze. He stared coldly down at the dead body that lay before him in a crumpled heap. This new development was shocking to say the least but he hardly cared. In fact he was really rather pleased with the turn of events. It would change many things. Idly he wondered if he should feel horrified at the fact that he had basically just ate four other human beings, he wasn't a cold hearted bastard after all, but given certain factors he wasn't particularly inclined to grieve over such filth. He was, however, concerned over the authorities, the magical authorities, getting wind of this. He didn't want it to get out that he, Harry Potter the Boy-Who-Lived and savior of the wizarding world, was now a vampire. No, that would cause no end of problems; at least for the time being. Harry flicked his fingers and the four bodies were piled together and set on fire, eradicating any evidence of his meals. With a nasty smile, Harry turned from the park and the burning pyre and leisurely made his way back to Privet Drive, taking off and tossing his broken glasses along the way and knowing full well that the Ministry wouldn't register his use of magic.

Humming merrily to himself, Harry slipped into the house and sat down in the living room and summoned parchment, ink, and a quill from upstairs along with a book to write on. With fluid motions, he set about writing two different documents that would put into motion his plans. They were both simple and straight to the point and only consisted of a few lines but they were necessary for what he wanted to do. When he finished, he set aside the ink and quill and waited. Given that he had returned to the house just past four in the morning, Harry didn't have long to wait and he passed the time going over all the changes he had just gone through, the memories he now had access to, and plotting of course. By the time Vernon's alarm went off at six in the morning, Harry was a little more acclimated with his altered state.

"What're _you_ doing down here?" Petunia practically screeched when she came down a few minutes to prepare coffee and breakfast.

"Waiting for you," Harry answered as he smiled prettily at his aunt. "Go back upstairs and retrieve your husband."

Petunia looked like she was going to protest but her eyes suddenly glazed over and she got a rather dreamy look on her face and she happily turned around and went back upstairs. The sound of voices reached Harry's newly enhanced ears and he listened amusedly as Petunia argued Vernon into coming downstairs with her. She wouldn't give a reason and merely demanded that he come downstairs with her this minute. He argued briefly to allow himself to finish getting ready but Petunia wouldn't have any of it and insisted on getting her way, which she was very good at given she had been doing it for decades.

"What could possibly be so important Petunia?" Vernon demanded as he thundered down the stairs after his wife. He came up short when he came to the living room and saw Harry sitting rather comfortably and confidently in a chair.

"Good morning Vernon," Harry said with false cheer before the elephant could open his mouth. Given the shade of purple his face was turning, Harry wouldn't be surprised if the man started bellowing insults soon. "You both are going to sign these." He continued as he stood up and held out papers. Vernon turned a darker purple and opened his mouth to speak but froze when his wife stepped forward and did as Harry bid, taking the papers, ink, and quill over to the table.

"What have you done to my wife?" Vernon roared in disbelief and anger.

"Sign the papers Vernon." Harry said with a roll of his eyes as he turned on the charm a little harder. The man fought for a few more seconds and was clearly about to lay into Harry about being impertinent and ungrateful, or other such nonsense, but the color soon drained from his face and he too acquired a slightly dreamy look on his face. "There's a good boy," Harry praised with a smirk as Vernon stepped forward and picked up the quill and signed his name in the appropriate spots. When he finished Harry rolled up the papers and said, "Now sell your house and move to the Siberian Tundra in Russia."

"Why?" Vernon questioned, obviously fighting Harry's alluring glamour.

"Because if you don't," Harry purred dangerously as he smiled a nasty and pointed smile. "You won't live to see the end of this day." Vernon didn't question further and immediately lumbered off to do as he was told.

As for Harry, he went upstairs to retrieve all his things and send Hedwig off before he simply left the house. With a soft crack, Harry vanished from Privet Drive and reappeared at the entrance to Diagon Alley. He sidled off to the side and hid in the shadows. He conjured a full length mirror and examined his physical appearance. Over all, he still looked like Harry Potter; same messy black hair that stood up all over the place and the same facial features. The changes were much subtler. His emerald green eyes seemed just slightly brighter, making them alluring and hypnotic. His skin was completely flawless and had grown ever so slightly paler. He was also several inches taller, now standing just below six feet. His fingers were longer and more delicate and he now had an overall more aristocratic demeanor.

There was one rather noticeable change though; his mouth. His lips were stained as red as the blood he now drank and his teeth were now much more pointed than they used to be and by far extremely sharp. It wasn't just his canines like one would normally think. Every single tooth now held a very prominent edge, turning his entire mouth into a very deadly weapon. It also turned his smile into a truly horrifying sight when he wanted.

With a put upon sigh, Harry waved his hand over his face and body, erecting a glamour. His lips returned to normal, as did his teeth, and his eyes dimmed to what they had been before. His height was left alone, since it was normal for Hogwarts students to go through several growth spurts during the summer breaks. However, his fingers did become less spindly and more appropriate with his previous body. He also transfigured his clothing into a set of robes that were far more dignified than the tattered clothing he had been wearing. Satisfied, Harry banished the mirror and began walking down Diagon Alley's winding path. Given the early morning hour, the sun wasn't too high in the sky, though Harry didn't have to worry about that, but it also meant that few people were on the street. The few that were out and about were either too busy opening up shop or too tired or both to notice that Harry Potter was walking down the street when he wasn't supposed to be.

Taking care not to appear threatening or offensive, Harry walked confidently into Gringotts. He knew his glamour wouldn't fool the secretive and uptight race. The goblins and vampires had a long and very tense history between each other but they both held a grudging respect for each other given the strength and power each race possessed. However, given the aggression of the vampires and the paranoia of the goblins, there had been several incidences throughout history that had almost ended in a full-scale war between the two creatures. As a result, both races could never truly socialize for very long without tensions growing dangerously high.

"Good morning to you master Griphook," Harry greeted the very goblin that had escorted him to his vault three years prior when Hagrid had retrieved him from the Dursley's. "I trust you are well today."

"As it is still early, that is still to be decided," Griphook responded as he looked Harry over with a critical eye.

"Fair enough," Harry said with a respectful nod. He calmly removed one of the documents from an inside robe pocket. "No doubt you have questions–" Harry started to continue but Griphook cut him off.

"Not as many as you would think," Griphook said calmly, though you could still see the tension in the goblins muscles. "Really the only one I have pertains to why you're here. After all, many pureblood lines have some creature blood. It is no great surprise that you have inherited one of the genes. Though I admit that it is a bit odd the gene kicked in so late. Most half blood vampire children experience the changes around six years."

"A point of inquiry for the both of us," Harry agreed. He had wondered the same thing after the change, as he had no answer for that little riddle. "However, it really is a moot point right now."

"Indeed, so what brings you to Gringotts this early in the morning and before Hogwarts has sent out letters?" Griphook said, bringing the discussion down to the business at hands.

"My guardians have seen fit to grant me full access to my estate," Harry explained as he handed over the first document. It was a simple letter signed by Vernon and Petunia stating that they agreed, as his legal guardians, to have complete access to any and all vaults that may fall under the Potter name at Gringotts turned over to Harry. It also stated, quite conveniently, that any payments that they may have received in order to support Harry financially, shall be returned in full.

"Did they now?" Griphook said as he scanned the letter before giving Harry piercing look.

"Quite," Harry answered with an unrepentant smirk on his face. "They have also decided to inexplicably uproot themselves and move out of the country. Seeing as I have no inclinations be leaving England or attending any other school besides Hogwarts, they have granted me such access so as to support myself here. That is why I will be needing assistance with purchasing a property if my estate does not come with any, though I highly doubt that it won't."

"Well that is a bit of a bind isn't it?" Griphook said with a knowing and sarcastic nod. It wasn't that Griphook didn't sympathize for Harry, on the contrary, the entire goblin race held no love for Muggles. Rather the nod was showing that he knew what Harry had done and found his actions rather amusing. "Shall we take this to a back room then? There we can assess the complete value of your estate in private as I'm sure you do not want to be lollygagging out here where anyone might be watching."

Harry grinned and followed the goblin into a manager's office where he spent the remainder of the morning going over his estate with Griphook, who just so happened to be the manager and caretaker of the Potter estate. It turned out that he did indeed own several properties throughout England and Europe. Given that the Potter line had dwindled to all but him and a few distant branches, the properties were empty and in need of cleaning and some had been abandoned for so long that they needed repairs. He also had acquired several vaults that had lain unclaimed for centuries from distant lines. Those, in addition to his trust fund vault and the main Potter vault left Harry as wealthy as the Malfoy family. The money and the reputation of the Potter family, not to mention his rep as the Boy-Who-Lived, left Harry with a good deal of political standing, though at present he would have to work rather hard to carve out his own standing and not the fantasized view the world had of him.

When he was finished with Griphook and had everything settled, Harry went over to one of the offices in Gringotts and knocked on the door. After a few minutes passed, he was granted entrance and Harry walked smoothly into the office. He let a smirk play on his face when he saw the signature platinum blond hair of a Malfoy sitting behind a large oak desk. The office was done in soft colors of beige and brown and it gave off a very calming aura. The dark brown oak furniture rested on a decorative dark green carpet that took up most of the room.

"I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised." Harry said, amusement thick in his voice. "The Malfoy's are supposed to have the best of everything. It would make sense that one of them would be the best law wizard money can buy."

"I beg your pardon?" Malfoy asked, clearly in shock at having Harry Potter in his office.

"My apologies Mr. Malfoy, truly I meant it as a compliment." Harry said as he stepped fully into the office. "And I am being terribly rude. I am Harry Potter, though I'm certain you already knew that."

"Indeed," Malfoy responded, the picture of Malfoy disdain and aloofness as he grudgingly accepted the hand Harry had extended. He did very well at hiding his confusion and shock, which only served to force Harry to suppress a smirk. "However, you have yet to explain what you are doing in my office, during the summer holidays when you are supposed to safely hidden away no less."

"Well I thought that would have been obvious," Harry said, allowing his smirk to show this time. "I need a lawyer. I asked for the best and was sent here."

"And what could you possibly need a lawyer for?" Malfoy drawled lazily as he remained standing, not inclined to sit until he knew everything that was going on. "I would have assumed that your magical guardian would attend to any legal matters that would arise."

"It is actually because of my magical guardian that I am here," Harry said with a dark look as he took out his second document.

–Scene Break–

The day after Harry's birthday Sirius Black and Remus Lupin were just settling down in their small shack of a residence that was well outside the Ministry of Magic's reach. They had been residing here ever since the end of term in June when things had gone so terribly wrong with Peter Pettigrew getting away. Given the late hour, it was to the surprise of them both when Hedwig glided silently and effortlessly through the window Remus was in the process of closing and settled on the back of a chair. Acting as if she owned the place, Hedwig settled in and began preening her feathers from the long flight. When a few minutes had passed and no one greeted her or relieved her from her burden, Hedwig hooted demandingly and turned her big knowing eyes on the werewolf and extended the leg that had two letters attached to it.

"He knows not to write unless it's important right?" Sirius questioned, still startled by her presence. Remus had stepped forward to relieve the owl from her burden, shocked further when he noticed that one of the letters was addressed to him as well as Sirius.

"I would assume so," Remus responded as he handed Sirius his letter. "He knows that it isn't safe to send constant letters while the Ministry is on the lookout for you."

"What the…" Sirius said in dumfounded amazement when he opened his letter. Seconds later, Remus was experiencing the same feeling as his letter said the same exact thing that Sirius' did.

_263 Capleton Lane, St. Ives_

_P.S._

_The Envelope is a Portkey._

The two of them had only just registered that last line before the portkey activated and they were whisked away. When the device released them they fell to the floor making undignified sounds in the process. The sound of someone laughing reached their ears and they looked up to see an amused Harry sitting in a comfortable chair with Hedwig on his shoulder looking down at them.

–Scene Break–

Two days after Harry had turned and seized control of his life, Albus Dumbledore sat in his office merrily working on signing the Hogwarts letters that would go out tomorrow. It was when he sealed Harry's envelop and wrote Harry's name on the back that the day took a turn for the worse. Instead of the Dursley's address appearing on the envelope a completely different address appeared, one that, if he was correct, resided about twenty miles north of London. Baffled, Dumbledore pulled out his wand and double-checked the spell work on the envelope just to make sure that nothing had gone wrong. When the readings came back normal, Dumbledore grew both confused and a little worried. Before he could think any more on the matter, three owls flew into his office simultaneously, dropped their loads and flew back out without so much as a by your leave. Two of the owls had brought official looking letters and the third had dropped an issue of the _Daily Prophet_. Given that it was nearing midday and the _Prophet_ had already issued their daily paper, it was with an apprehensive look that Dumbledore reached out and unfurled the rolled up paper.

_**SIRIUS BLACK INNOCENT**_

_By Rita Skeeter _

The blaring title that took up half the front page caused Dumbledore to choke on the sherbet lemon he had plopped into his mouth a few minutes before he started working on Harry's letter. When he had spared the few minutes to clear his airways, Dumbledore turned back to the paper and began to read the paper in a slight panic.

_Yesterday morning Cepheus Malfoy, long standing solicitor of the Malfoy family and one of the best lawyers money can buy, filed an injunction against the Ministry of Magic on the behalf of an, as of yet, unknown party. The injunction was filed to prevent the Ministry from hunting down the Azkaban escapee Sirius Black, whom we all know escaped prison last summer in an attempt to kidnap and/or murder the Boy-Who-Lived Harry Potter. _

_The Wizengamot convened that day where Mr. Malfoy proceeded to demand that the Ministry of Magic cease its efforts to locate Black and to have him cleared of all charges under the guise of a mistrial. This reporter was shocked to learn that the reason for this mistrial was that Black never actually received one. He was, in fact, simply shipped off to Azkaban when the Aurors had apprehended him that fateful day when he supposedly killed twelve muggles and long time friend of the Potters, Peter Pettigrew. _

_A memory was also provided at this meeting. It was examined by Unspeakables and was confirmed to be authentic and altered only to protect the identity of the memory's owner. The memory depicted a scene in a rundown shack, believed to be the Shrieking Shack just outside of Hogsmeade, wherein Sirius Black revealed that he had not been the one to betray the Potters to the Dark Lord He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. It was, actually, the believed deceased hero Peter Pettigrew who betrayed them before escaping from Sirius Black in his unregistered animagus form of a rat after cutting off his own finger. _

_With such compelling evidence, the Ministry had no choice but to allow the injunction. However, in a surprising turn of events Sirius Black, accompanied by one Remus Lupin and a mysterious hooded figure, believed to be the owner of the provided memory and the reason for the injunction, entered the Ministry of Magic and proceeded to head to the court rooms. There, the Wizengamot questioned the escaped prisoner under Veritaserum where it was revealed that he had nothing to do with the betrayal of the Potters and has never been marked by the Dark Lord. _

_Ministry Officials have been unavailable for comment yet but it has been proven that Sirius Black has been cleared of all charges and compensated heavily for the crimes committed against him, including his false incarceration. He has also been reinstated as Lord Black of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black and, in accordance with the Potter's will, has taken custody of Harry Potter as his godfather. The once famed hero Peter Pettigrew has been stripped of his Order of Merlin and been declared armed and highly dangerous and is to be apprehended on sight. Any who might have knowledge of the fugitive's whereabouts is to contact the Aurors at once._

Dread filled the aged Headmaster as he finished the article and he looked at the innocent looking letters on his desk in a new light. Even without having to pick up the letters, Dumbledore saw the sigil of Gringotts and the Ministry on the envelopes. Ignoring the letters for now, knowing already what they would say, Dumbledore quickly got up from his seat and ran to his floo where he immediately went to the Ministry to try and do damage control. He had let Sirius take the fall for everything for a reason and he was not about to let his plans go to ruin.

–Scene Break–

"It is so nice when a plan comes together," Harry said with an evil chuckle when he finished reading the article. He sat at the head of his table while Remus and Sirius finished their lunches. They were at one of the Potter properties that weren't in disrepair and thanks to the house elves, it was livable in no time. The house was a three-story cottage that rested on the cliffs overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in St. Ives. Though it was considered a cottage, the house was nowhere near small and provided plenty of spacious room for the three of them to live comfortably. "I have no doubt that the old fool is nearing a heart attack and is trying his best to keep you from taking custody of me."

"I just can't believe that I'm actually free," Sirius said, still very much in shock over the happenings of the last two days.

"You better," Remus said with a small chuckle. He was having a better time adjusting than Sirius was. "I highly doubt it would prove beneficial to suddenly run away when you're in the middle of public. People might think you did something… though knowing you, you probably will have done something."

"Likely," Harry agreed with a snicker as he kept his face buried in the paper, though he wasn't really reading anything. He was simply trying to hide his hilarity.

"Hey!" Sirius burst out when it sank in what the other two were hinting at. His outburst caused Harry's restraint to break and he started laughing hysterically.

"You have to admit Sirius," Harry said when he had control of his voice once more. "You do have a bit of a penchant towards pulling stunts that land you in trouble."

"I do not!" Sirius pouted emphatically, causing Harry to crack up again.

"So all the times you ended up in detention were because of poor attendance?" Remus inquired with a teasing glint in his eye. Sirius just blushed and refused to comment. He was saved from further teasing though when an elf popped into the room next to Harry with a tray that held two letters and a goblet filled with a dark red liquid.

"These letters be just arriving for yous master Harry," the elf squeaked as she, for it was obviously a female elf, set the tray on the table next to Harry's right hand.

"Thank you Mipsy," Harry said with a kind smile to the elf before she popped away. "I wonder if the news has reached them yet." He mumbled mostly to himself as he ignored the letters with the familiar handwriting and went straight for the drink, taking a nice long swig before setting it down and turning his attention to the letters.

"Harry," Remus said with a note of hesitation in his voice. "With everything that was going on yesterday we didn't really have a chance to do anything other than deal with the Ministry."

"Yes I was wondering when you would get around to asking about that." Harry said as he opened the first letter and read it through with barely any interest. Ron had apparently heard the news from Arthur and evidently worked out that it was Harry who had managed to clear Sirius' name, a feat worthy of Merlin considering the boy's lack of inclination to use his brain properly. "Frankly, I'm surprised it wasn't the first thing you brought up when you got here yesterday."

"What're you talking about?" Sirius asked, shifting his gaze between Harry and Remus.

"Unless I'm mistaken, Remus is wondering how I became a vampire," Harry stated bluntly as he tossed Ron's letter aside, shelving it for later thought for when he could come up with an appropriate response, particularly since the boy had also included an entire paragraph about how his dad had gotten tickets to the Quidditch world cup. "To which I say no, I wasn't bitten. It was actually a bit of a shock, not to mention painful, when I ended up inheriting the gene from an ancestor in the Potter Family Tree."

"I thought the gene kicked in around six in born vampires," Remus wondered when Sirius was rendered mute at the blunt declaration, something he hadn't been expecting.

"As far as I know it does," Harry said with a shrug of his shoulders. "It is actually something I am very curious about. Since vampires hold a lot in common with Sphinxes, I have inherited not only the vampire gene but the memories of most of my ancestors as well. As such, I know that normally a born vampire starts showing signs of turning at six and are gradually introduced to the change. I have no idea what went wrong but for some reason that didn't happen with me and I was thrust into it violently and painfully."

"You still look like yourself though," Sirius entered the conversation, finally coming out of his stupor. "I thought vampires were really pale with blood red lips and pointed canines."

"Few outside of the clans know any real facts about vampires," Harry commented as he breezed through Hermione's letter. She hadn't gotten wind of what happened yet, or simply had yet to write him about it, and the letter was simply an apology for forgetting about his birthday. Apparently her family had been going through something, she hadn't specified, and she ended up completely forgetting. She promised to send her gift as soon as she got it. "However we do have blood red lips, pale skin and it isn't just out canines that are pointed."

"How come you look normal then?" Sirius asked, studiously ignoring when Harry downed the rest of his drink and licked his lips in a rather sinful manner.

"A glamour that only vampires and other magical creatures can see through," Harry explained as he lowered the glamour to reveal how he looked now. "And before you ask, I am able to perform such magic because the Ministry can no longer register any magic I perform. The trace that allows them to do so was unable to handle the sudden change to my magical core and ended up snapping."

"Mipsy is sorry Master Harry," Mipsy said as she popped into the room next to Harry, bowing low and wringing her hands nervously. "But Mr. Malfoy be in the floo parlor."

"Odd," Harry said with a frown. He wasn't expecting Cepheus. "Thank you Mipsy."

"Unexpected I take it?" Remus asked as he followed Harry out of the dining room. Sirius paused momentarily before making the decision to follow.

"Entirely. I figured we'd have a few days or a week before any problems arose." Harry replied as he reapplied the glamour before walking into the floo parlor. "Cepheus! Welcome, though I admit to being rather surprised to see you so soon. You remember Remus and Sirius of course."

"Yes," Cepheus said, only marginally less coolly than he usually was in public. The man may have warmed up slightly to Harry but he had yet to do so with Sirius and Remus. "I, as you, wasn't expecting to have to visit with you today. However, I have a rather annoying old man in my office that refuses to leave until he has spoken with Mr. Black about, and I quote, 'what he has done with Harry Potter.' He also seemed rather annoyed that he wasn't consulted before you were given custody of your godson." Cepheus said the last to Sirius directly.

"Ugh," Harry groaned in annoyance as he pulled a rather childish pose of slumping his shoulders and looking towards the ceiling. "I suppose it was too much to hope that he would give us a few days of peace before he started hounding us."

"Why is he making such a fuss in the first place?" Sirius questioned in confusion. He had always trusted Dumbledore so he found the man's actions to a completely legal matter hard to swallow.

"Because he doesn't like it when people refuse to play by his rules," Harry grumbled. Ever since his change on his birthday, Harry had a slightly different insight on the Headmaster. It actually wasn't all that different from how he thought before but where he had been more inclined to not see what was going on, Harry now saw everything clearly. "Well we might as well get this over with, no sense in making you suffer with the rest of us eh Cepheus?"

"How considerate of you," Cepheus joked with a smirk as he went over to the fireplace and threw in some floo powder.

Harry chuckled in amusement as he stepped through the floo after Remus and with Sirius taking up the rear. The amusement quickly died, however, as he stepped through the fireplace and into Cepheus' office. Dumbledore stood in the middle of the office, looking like a rumbling thundercloud that was about to erupt. Obviously the man had run into some road blocks that he hadn't expected and wasn't the least bit pleased by the situation.

"Harry!" Dumbledore said in shock. Clearly he hadn't been expecting Harry to show up as well, probably assuming that he would still be at his relatives place, ignorant of everything.

"Albus," Harry greeted with an annoyed sigh as he sat down in a chair that Cepheus had conjured for him.

Dumbledore faltered briefly at the cold tone in Harry's voice but he quickly rallied. "What're you doing here Harry? You should be with your relatives where it's safe."

"Considering they have moved to Iceland, I seriously doubt that," Harry said, easily lying about where his relatives have moved to so Dumbledore wouldn't find them and try and muck everything up. "That would be why I took it upon myself to hire Mr. Malfoy here in order to facilitate Sirius' freedom; something that you should have done in the first place."

"Harry," Dumbledore said in a condescending tone that he no doubt thought was reproachful. "The money in your vault is supposed to last you the next four years. You can't go spending it frivolously. For that matter, you shouldn't have been able to make such a purchase at all given the restrictions that are on your account."

"I didn't use my trust fund Albus," Harry said, purposely using Dumbledore's first name as it indicated that they were equals, something that Harry could easily see was irking the man more than the situation. What was worse, for Dumbledore at least, was that the man couldn't even complain about it since they were not at Hogwarts or acting in a school related manner. "As Lord Potter I have access to all of the family vaults and it was from them that I acquired the money to pay Mr. Malfoy."

"You cannot be Lord Potter," Dumbledore whispered as Harry's words sank in. "You're not seventeen yet."

"Actually," Cepheus said, interjecting himself into the conversation. "As his muggle relatives have given their permission for him to have access to his vaults and forfeited their rights as Mr. Potter's legal guardians, he has every right to ascend to the position of Lord Potter, especially since he is the last of the main branch of Potters and sole heir to the Potter fortune." Cepheus pulled out and handed over the documents Harry had drawn up to Dumbledore. "Furthermore, as Mr. Black has taken over custody of Mr. Potter, given that he _is_ underage, the need for a magical guardian is null and you no longer have any say in how his life is run. And that includes the management of his finances. As a result and per Mr. Potter's wishes, any and all purchases or withdrawals you have made or set up are to be cancelled and reversed, resulting in a total of one hundred million galleons that you, Albus Dumbledore, are personally responsible for." Here, Cepheus handed over a bill that the goblins and he had drawn up once they had done a complete inventory of Harry's financial standing.

"I daresay Cepheus," Harry said, having trouble hiding a smirk. "You certainly are worth every galleon."

"Of course!" Cepheus said with a haughty air. "A Malfoy would never be worth anything less." That proved too much for Harry and he gave in to peals of laughter.

"Harry," Dumbledore said in a grave and serious tone. Harry was pleased to note that the man looked slightly pale. "Why have you done this? You have no idea what this means. The blood protection your mother's sacrifice provided you–"

"Isn't worth squat!" Harry snapped, suddenly angry. He stood up to better glare at the aged man before him. "To be effective, that particular type of sacrifice and warding requires intense, _positive_ feelings between the protected and _any_ blood relations. Since only one of those requirements was met, the protection was barely applicable and slowly deteriorated over time, remaining barely strong enough to ward off only the weakest of threats."

With each word Harry spoke Dumbledore seemed to grow smaller and smaller. The aged man could hardly believe his ears. Never in his entire life had he been so soundly trumped. Nor had he ever encountered someone who, in the span of only a month and a half, had changed so completely. It was only just at the end of the school year, not even two months ago, that Harry had been a meek and malleable person, something that Dumbledore had been extremely pleased with. But this man before him, this person who looked ready to tear Dumbledore's throat out, was nothing less than an indomitable warrior that would bow to none.

"I believe this meeting has come to a close," Remus said, finally stepping in when he noticed the dangerous look in Harry's eyes, a look he recognized from the mirror all too well. When he had stepped through the fireplace, he had been prepared for a long and drawn out argument between him, Sirius, and Dumbledore. He had not been expecting Dumbledore to focus solely on Harry and for Harry to so completely rip the man a third eye socket. The more the conversation had progressed, the more Remus realized the complexity of just how Harry had changed when he had inherited the vampire gene. "This matter is obviously very legal and binding, else Mr. Malfoy here would not have been able to set it up and the Ministry would have rejected the transfer of guardianship from the Dursleys to Sirius."

"Indeed," Harry drawled. He gave Dumbledore a withering glare before he glided over to the fireplace and disappeared in a swirl of green flames. Sirius and Remus soon followed after watching Dumbledore mechanically leave the office and bidding Cepheus a good day.

–Scene Break–

Surprisingly enough, the rest of the summer passed in relative peace. Harry spent most of his time getting his estate into shape and preparing things for a few ventures he had in mind. He had replied to Ron's letter a few days after he had received it, though he had replied to Hermione's the same day. Harry had reluctantly accepted the other boy's invitation to go to the Quidditch Cup. He didn't particularly want to go to the stupid thing but he figured it would be better than raising any hackles just yet. Besides, he would get to see Hermione, whom he thought was a better friend than Ron had ever been. Sure, she could be a little over bearing at times but Harry could see that for the shield it was.

Thus was why he ended up enduring the catastrophe that the Cup turned out to be. It wasn't a complete loss though. When they were stuck in the forest hiding from the Death Eaters, several interesting things had been revealed, namely a plot. Harry had heard the man long before he had made any noise and had kept a keen eye on him, ready to move in case he proved to be a threat. He had delved into the man's mind but found it too disorienting to be able to garner any sort of pertinent information. All the mind told him was that he had spent a great deal of time in Azkaban, which explained why the mind was so fractured. When the mysterious man set off the Dark Mark, Harry whipped his wand out and was seconds away from firing off a stunner when he was forced to switch tacks and erect a shield to defend against the ten or so stunners that came flying at him, Hermione, and the others by the Aurors that had suddenly appeared.

"One would think," Harry snapped as he lowered his shield. His voice was thick with sarcasm and derision. "That such highly trained officials such as yourselves would at least take the time to identify your targets before firing off that many stunners. If you had, then perhaps the culprit would not have escaped."

"Which one of you did it?" One of the officials, Harry recognized him from the papers as Bartemius Crouch Sr. and Head of the Department of International Cooperation, said almost hysterically as he thrust his wand in all their faces. "Which one of you conjured it?"

"Moron," Harry sneered as he swatted the wand away from his face and shoved passed the fool with ease and made his way over to the forest edge. His vampiric eyes easily pierced the darkness as if it were high noon and he could easily see the prone form of a house elf that had been hit by one of the stunners that had been reflected off Harry's shield. "Interesting. Perhaps, Mr. Crouch, you would care to explain why your elf was seen struggling with the perpetrator that cast the mark?" He asked as he lifted the elf and brought her back to the small clearing for all to see. He knew it was Crouch's because he could see the magical bond that linked the two.

"How could you possibly know whom that elf belongs to?" One of the other ministry officials demanded.

"I think Mr. Crouch's face speaks for itself," Harry said, deflecting the question. Just as everyone turned to look at Crouch his face went completely blank but everyone still saw the shock and fear on the man's face before it was hidden.

While everyone else argued amongst themselves and Crouch dismissed his elf, Harry attempted to delve into the man's mind in order to find out what exactly was going on but unfortunately the man's mind was well guarded by thick Occlumency shields. He could have forced his way past, he knew several techniques that would have allowed him to slip through the shields, undetected or otherwise, but he refrained from doing so for two reasons. One, he wasn't that interested in the mystery to bother with figuring it out. Two, he was still rather unsure of such skills, despite having hundreds of memories of using them. Then there was the fact that he didn't particularly like invading people's privacy, since he knew how it felt to have your life laid bare for all to see. Hey, he may be a blood sucker with a new cruel streak that ran a mile wide but that didn't mean he couldn't have morals and a conscience.

When things finally settled down and they were all being led by Arthur Weasley to a Portkey that would take them all back to the Burrow, Harry quietly contemplated how to handle the situation with Hermione. He could feel her eyes glued to him and had been so ever since the officials had arrived and he knew she had noticed the changes in his character that had revealed themselves that night. Harry knew that Ron likely noticed as well but he couldn't give a rat's ass about the fool who couldn't be bothered to use his brain. It wasn't until they had all returned safely to the Burrow and everyone had gone to sleep, except for him, that he had finally decided to simply wait until she came to him and asked, at which time he would sit her down, swear her to secrecy, and then inform her of the truth.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing of the Harry Potter universe save for my OC's

**A/N: **OK! So I've got a lot of fabulous reviews for the stories I've posted recently. The only one with any real controversy is Submission, which I completely expected as I was not exactly sure of that one myself. I will leave that one up for a few more days to see if there are any stragglers out there who might have more input for me before I decide to do anything with it. In the mean time, I will be posting the rest of the chapters I have completed for my other works as those have all received good reviews and everyone seems to like them. For all who follow my other stories and are desperate for an update, do not fear. **Revenge** and** The Fourth Rider** should have a new chapter in a few weeks or so. It is merely difficult for me to find time to write now that I'm working as a cashier. I'm usually so dead after work that I come home and collapse lol. These other stories I have been poking and prodding for several months and that is why I have a number of chapters to post.

Happy Readings to you all and please review! I love your guys' reviews. They often make my day :-)

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CHAPTER TWO

Harry yawned in complete boredom. The last few weeks of the summer holidays had been a waste of his time and due to his need to keep people from getting suspicious he hadn't got a whole lot of sleep. He hadn't killed anyone, thanks to the blood-pops and regular meals his house elves provided him in secret but he had more than once been tempted to sink his teeth into his quickly-becoming-ex-best-friend's neck, despite his adamant belief that the boy's blood would taste far too bitter for his liking. All the brat would go on about was the world cup and the Death Eater activity or whatever it was his parents were hiding, for it was obvious they were hiding something.

It was all completely inconsequential to Harry, who, frankly, had far better things to do with his time than indulge his ignorant and childish friend. The only bright spot had been Hermione since the two of them had several opportunities to hold very intellectual conversations, especially after she had asked him about why he had acted so strange at the cup. The look on her face when he had told her was absolutely priceless. Her eyes nearly fell from their sockets and the muscles in her jaw had stopped working, allowing it to hang freely. She hadn't believed him at first, naturally, but when he lowered his glamour to reveal his razor sharp mouth and deathly alluring features she had gone all bug eyed before promptly fainting. It was all quite amusing to Harry and had spent the better part of the next hour waking her up and helping her to adjust to his change, which mostly involved answering this question and that question.

The only question he couldn't answer was why now? Why, after fourteen years, did he change now? Harry _still_ couldn't figure what had happened to delay his change almost seven years. He suspected that it had something to do with what happened the night Voldemort attacked but for the life of him he couldn't figure out what or why. He knew that the killing curse didn't affect vampires, they were already dead, but he wouldn't have been a vampire at that age. His mother's sacrifice explained why he survived the curse but it still didn't explain why he hadn't turned when he was six when he should have. He was very obviously missing something and it was bugging him endlessly.

"Harry?" Said boy was startled out of his drowsy thoughts at the call of his name. He looked up to see Hermione standing in the middle of the compartment looking at him in a mixture of concern and amusement. "Are you coming?"

Harry furrowed his brow in confusion and darted a quick glance outside the compartment window and saw that they had pulled into Hogsmeade. "Yeah," he said getting up with another bone deep yawn. "Sorry."

"It's ok," Hermione said as she led the way out of the compartment. "You're obviously tired and honestly I don't blame you. If I were in your position I probably wouldn't be faring as well."

She hid it well but Harry still saw the slight grimace that donned her face, though all he could see was her back. She too had found Ron's prattling over the last few weeks irritating and tiresome but had refrained from any out of character speeches because Harry had explained to her the dangers of his vampirism becoming public knowledge. If they both started breaking away from the redhead now then questions would be asked and people would start digging. It was a miracle that no one had suspected that he was the one to set up Sirius' freedom, though Harry was certain that Dumbledore was pulling strings to try to keep things as quiet as possible.

"What're you two talking about?" Ron's grating voice sounded from a head of them as they gathered around and picked a carriage. "Whose position wouldn't you be faring well in 'Mione?"

"Mine," Harry said as he suppressed yet _another_ yawn. He _really_ needed to get in some solid sleep. Vampires may get energized when the sun goes down but they still needed sleep and since he usually didn't go to sleep until four or five in the morning and then got up only a few hours later… well obviously he wasn't getting enough sleep. "My scar has been bugging me for the past few days for some reason." Hermione gave him a look when Ron wasn't looking and he just gave a small shake of his head and waved his hand slightly to indicate he was lying.

"What?" Ron said in shock. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"What would I say?" Harry countered with a raised eyebrow. "Danger is coming because my head hurts?"

"Pithy," Hermione said with a chuckle, which Harry mimicked. "I for one would have jumped into immediate action." Harry couldn't help but crack up at that.

"Doing what?" He asked when he had regained control of his voice. "Poking and prodding my scar until it divulged all of its secrets?"

"Of course," Hermione said with such a straight face that Harry almost believed her. Naturally, he just ended up laughing even more.

"Did you at least tell Dumbledore?" Ron demanded angrily, not liking that his concern was being brushed off so callously.

Hermione got a stony look on her face while Harry merely snorted in derision. "There's nothing to tell. It's a curse scar. Such scars act up from time to time. Normally they don't act up at all unless the spell used is designed to do so but this situation is hardly normal."

They were saved from further discussion as the carriages pulled up to Hogwarts and they all headed inside. Harry attended the welcoming feast in a rather bored manner. Dumbledore's speech was just as inane as the previous years, though he pleasantly noted the complete lack of a twinkle in the man's eye. Harry took immense pleasure in knowing that he was the reason for its absence. Hermione noted his look of unholy glee and looked to the source of his gaze and she too noted the absence of that normally ever presence twinkle. Then she started chuckling herself, easily picking up on Harry's thoughts. Ron noticed their looks but didn't get the joke and he got annoyed at being left out but was prevented from saying anything when Dumbledore stood up at the end of the feast.

"Attention!" The old man called though it was really unnecessary since the minute he left his chair everyone had stopped talking, save Hermione and Harry who were currently talking over a few of Harry's plans, discretely of course. "This year is a very special year. You see, Hogwarts has been chosen to host a legendary event; the Triwizard Tournament!" Whispers broke out at the announcement but quickly quieted as the old man continued speaking. "Because of this Quidditch will be cancelled for the year. A warning to you all, this tournament should not be entered lightly, nor is it an excuse to allow your grades to slip. More details will be given on Halloween when the tournament is set to begin. For now, off to bed."

"Well," Harry said as he and Hermione left the hall. "At least we won't lack for entertainment this year."

"I wonder why they decided to reinstate it." Hermione said with a thoughtful look on her face. "It was discontinued because it was too dangerous."

"Beats me," Ron said from Harry's left. Harry and Hermione both rolled their eyes, knowing what would come out of the boy's mouth next. "I just hope that I'm chosen."

"Why? So you can lose a limb or two?" Harry inquired in a sweetly mocking voice. "I commend you for your masochism but Hermione is right. The last tournament took the lives of two judges and one of the champions. Not to mention the injuries suffered to several bystanders."

Hermione ended up chocking on a snort of amusement when Harry subtly accused Ron of being not only masochistic but stupid as well. Her amusement only increased when Ron merely looked confused, obviously not knowing what masochism meant. In an effort to keep the boy from blowing up, which was likely given that he didn't like it when people spoke about things he didn't get, she changed the subject. "I wonder if the Ministry had anything to do with it. Maybe they're trying to increase international relations, like they did with the Quidditch Cup."

"It wouldn't surprise me," Harry said with a smirk on his face. "Unfortunately, something tells me that something else is involved."

–Scene Break–

Harry sat in a dark corner of Hogwarts library reading an obscure tome from the restricted section. He didn't have any written permission to get anything from the restricted section but he had Madam Pince so deeply enamored with him that she let him do just about anything he wanted. He hadn't used any glamours or other magics. He had simply talked to her and slowly worked his way through the woman's prickly demeanor. It also helped that Harry knew several spells to cancel the alarms on the books so no one knew where or what he was doing or that he was doing it without permission. Not that it mattered much.

Over the two months in which he had been back at Hogwarts he had not only managed to work out a sleep schedule that allowed him to get the proper amount of sleep but he had also effectively charmed half the school, without the use of actual magic. Almost every single teacher in the school, with the exclusion of Dumbledore and Snape, viewed him in the same light as they did Hermione: upstanding, highly intelligent, and a stickler for the rules. The students, who already looked to him because of his fame, had been falling over themselves when he started expanding his social network and began making more friends. The only exceptions were the Slytherins and Ron, who had grown increasingly annoyed as time passed and Harry had stopped spending every waking moment with the red head.

Harry looked up from his book, an obscure reading about an ancient civilization of vampires that hadn't been touched in almost three centuries; he was _still _trying to figure out what was so different with his vampirism. A very familiar scent wafted into his nostrils and his emerald eyes easily pierced the gloom of the library to lock onto the figure that silently made its way through the bookcases. The figure hadn't noticed that they weren't alone; understandable given that the only source of light in the entire library was crescent moon that barely shone through the storm outside. Harry hadn't needed any light, which only aided in him remaining undiscovered. This, however, caused Harry's curiosity to spike, as the other person didn't have any source of light either. It didn't matter much since there were several spells designed to aid in night vision but it did speak to the reasons for the person being there.

"I never took you for one to wander a library this late at night," Harry said calmly, causing the other person to jump a foot in the air, spin, and ram backwards into a bookshelf in the space of a single second. Harry subtly cast a spell to stabilize the books that started to fall so they didn't alert anyone else. "You really should check to make sure you're alone before you go sneaking around."

"Potter," the familiar drawl of Draco Malfoy said when the other person recognized Harry's voice and lit the tip of his wand. Spell or not, only a creature of the night could fully see in the dark with complete clarity. "What're you doing here?"

"Hosting a party," Harry said sarcastically with a raised eyebrow and a look that clearly spoke his thoughts on the inanity of the boy's question. "I had absolutely no interest in attending the selection of the champions so I thought I'd come up here and throw a party all by myself." Harry leaned back in his chair, completely relaxed and unconcerned with the wand that was trained on him. "Really Malfoy, what does it look like I'm doing?"

"Lying in wait to scare people into having heart attacks by the looks of it," Malfoy complained in annoyance, lowering his wand slightly. The blond was surprised when Harry started laughing at his sarcasm. The sound had been so unexpected that his wand hand twitched, four years of quarreling and life spent as a Malfoy and a Slytherin causing the boy to always be on guard.

"A pleasant side effect to be sure but not my main purpose for being here," Harry said with a chuckle. "I honestly hadn't expected to encounter anyone given what is going on downstairs." He closed the book he'd been reading and set it down on the table. It was obvious that he wasn't going to get any more reading done at the moment. "The question remains, however; what are _you_ doing here? You never struck me as a bookworm."

"I am _not_ a bookworm," Malfoy stated defiantly, though most of his bluster was ruined by the unwavering smirk on Harry's face. "I was merely looking for a specific spell before you so rudely interrupted."

"Mmmm," Harry hummed with a knowing nod. "And this was something that couldn't wait for morning when you wouldn't be caught out of bounds and risk detention." Harry's smirk grew into a full on smile when Malfoy remained silent, not having any real response. "Well if that's the case then by all means continue searching. I'm hardly about to go off and tattle when I'd get busted as well." Malfoy stared at Harry silently as the boy went back to reading before he went back to the stacks and started searching for what he had been after earlier.

"So what _are_ you doing here?" Malfoy questioned quietly a few minutes later as he looked over the books a few shelves away from where Harry was sitting.

"Just a little research into a personal matter," Harry said nonchalantly, not looking up from the book. His voice clearly said that no more would be spoken on the topic, though it remained perfectly neutral.

Before Malfoy could respond, footsteps sounded in the library. They rushed along in a very hurried pace, their owner very obviously panicked. Malfoy quickly extinguished his wand light and hid in the shadows of the stacks while Harry remained where he was, perfectly still and quiet, no more than a shadow among shadows. He recognized not only the footsteps but the scent as well but it usually paid to remain cautious instead of over confident. As expected though, Hermione came rushing through the bookshelves with her wand lit and looking extremely frazzled.

"Harry!" She said in elation and fear when she noticed the lone figure sitting at his favorite table. "Something's happened. You have to come down to the Great Hall."

"What happened?" Harry asked as he calmly got out of his seat and went over to the restricted section to replace his book before he followed Hermione out of the library.

"Something you're probably not going to like." Hermione said evasively, which was a clear sign that she knew that whatever it was would severely piss him off and she didn't want to be the only living being around in case he lost it, as it increased her odds of survival. Now, she had never seen him so pissed that he lost control but she had read a good deal about vampires and Harry had given her some more factual information so she knew that it was never wise to be anywhere near one when they blew.

"Oh joy," he said sarcastically.

Hermione led the way through the halls and down to the Great Hall in silence with Harry following behind her. So silently did Harry move that several times Hermione had to suppress the urge to look over her shoulder to make sure he was there. When they entered the hall they both paused in surprise to find it entirely deserted save for the Goblet of Fire. They both had expected to find it full of people talking about the selection. Instead, only Dumbledore, Maxime, Karkaroff, Barty Crouch, and a few members of the Hogwarts staff were there, standing at the Head Table and arguing heatedly.

"Harry!" Dumbledore barked when he noticed him and Hermione.

"Headmaster," Harry said with tightly controlled annoyance. "What, pray tell, could I do for you on this stormy evening? I figured you all would be preparing your champions with lame pep talks and what not." The Headmasters, save for Dumbledore, all got looks of indignation on their faces. However, the look on Maxime's face quickly turned to one of respectful contemplation as she eyed Harry a little more closely, which made Harry shift subtly in discomfort.

"Harry," Dumbledore said, drawing everyone's attention. "Why weren't you present at the selection?"

"I was unaware that such a thing was mandatory," Harry replied a little snidely. Before the old man could respond Harry continued. "However, if you must know, I was upstairs in the Gryffindor common room studying." Harry silently thanked Hermione for giving him advanced permission to search her thoughts in these situations in case they ever came up so they could keep their stories straight. As a result though he ended up discovering what exactly had transpired to create this situation. While the information did piss him off, he managed to restrain himself from outwardly projecting any sign that he was anything but perfectly calm. He was aware of Maxime's unrelenting gaze though and he was beginning to suspect why she was staring at him.

Harry's thoughts were diverted from their current path when he felt a mental probe make its way towards his mind from Dumbledore. Rather ruthlessly he took hold and proceeded to squeeze. The man fought him and tried to get away but Harry refused to let go and just continued to apply pressure. Harry remained perfectly in control but Dumbledore started showing signs of distress. Sweat beaded on his aged brow and he developed a tick in his right eye.

"As my friend has informed me," Harry said, breaking eye contact with the old man but still holding on to the Legilimency probe. "My name has come out of the goblet. To end this debate here and now no I did not put my name in and neither did I get anyone else to do it for me. I had and have no intention of participating in this tournament. I have enough fame and fortune to last me my entire life thank you." With that, Harry turned on his heal and began to stalk from the room, reluctantly releasing his grip on Dumbledore's mind. The man promptly collapsed from the release in pressure.

"I'm afraid you have no choice Mr. Potter," Barty Crouch said in a grave voice. "The Goblet of Fire constitutes a binding magical contract–"

"That extends to willing participants only," Harry interrupted, not stopping or even slowing in his progress from the room. "As such I am under no obligation to participate, especially since Hogwarts already has a champion. You would know this sir if you had bothered to read any sort of history book on the matter. Good night to you all."

"I should have you tested to see if you're insane," Hermione said as she walked beside Harry towards Gryffindor tower. "I probably would have been pissing myself if I were in your shoes."

"I admit I may have gone a little… shall we say eccentric since my change," Harry said with a smirk. Hermione just giggled. "But when you suddenly acquire several centuries worth of memories that aren't your own you can't really help it. I am concerned though that my name came out of that goblet. Somebody obviously has it in for me."

"Yeah but who in the castle would do such a thing?" Hermione said as Harry gave the password to the Fat Lady. "Half the school loves you and the skill and power required to confound something as powerful as that Goblet is above what any of the Slytherin's could have mustered, even the older years."

"The teachers would have the skill and power needed but again most of them wouldn't have any motive." Harry said thoughtfully as he sat down in front of the fireplace. "The only people who don't like me on the staff at this moment are Snape, Dumbledore, and Moody. Though he still doesn't like me Snape doesn't have any real reason to ensure my entrance into the tournament, especially since my potions skills have improved. There's something off about Moody that I can't quite pinpoint but I see no reason why he would want me in the tournament. Dumbledore on the other hand, I can see him trying to involve me in some kind of plot but I got the feeling he wasn't involved in this."

"Do you honestly expect us to believe that you didn't do this?" Ron's angry voice sounded from the other side of the room. Harry turned his head to where Ron was sitting in a corner and he noticed that the entire Gryffindor dorm was in the common room. He hadn't noticed because he had been so wrapped up in his conversation with Hermione.

"Show of hands," Harry sighed in annoyance as he stood up to face everyone. "Who here in this room believes that I am _stupid_ enough to try to ensure my entry into such a _deadly_ tournament when I have the worst luck in the world and people after my head for offing their master when I was a baby?" Not a single hand moved. "Who here thinks that I don't already have enough fame, which you all know that I thoroughly dislike?" Again, no one raised their hands. "And one more time, who here thinks Ronald Weasley is an angry hot head who thinks with his feet instead of what little brains the gods blessed him with?" Every hand in the room raised into the air, much to Ron's surprise. Even his brothers and sister raised their hands. Goes to show how much his family thought of him.

"Wow," Hermione whispered quietly. She hadn't been expecting the _entire_ house to turn on the red head. Harry hadn't even used any magic to get them to see his way. They all genuinely disliked the hot headed Weasley.

"Now that we've straightened that out," Harry said as he looked pointedly at Ron, who was looking shocked at the turn of events. "Let's straighten out the record completely. I _will not _be participating in this tournament. Hogwarts has its champion, its legal champion, and that is Cedric Diggory, not me. Everything has been sorted out with the judges and the officials and I have been removed as a participant in the tournament."

"Too bad," Fred said in mock disappointment.

"You would have made a great, unprecedented, fourth champion." George finished, sounding just as disappointed as his twin.

"Be that as it may," Harry said, unable to refrain from smirking at their antics. "I won't be participating. Now, it is late and I am going to bed." He bid Hermione good night and left the room with the entire house following his progress.

The next few weeks were annoying but not as bad as they probably could have been. Weasley still didn't believe that he had nothing to do with putting his name into the goblet but Harry just outright ignored the boy and so did Hermione. The rest of the school, while believed that he had at first, slowly worked their way to understand that he had nothing to do with it. The previous two months of Harry working on socializing with the rest of the student body and building a larger social network helped greatly in getting them back on his side. The Slytherins were surprisingly neutral in the matter, save for a few staunch haters. Political snakes as they were, they could all feel the shift in power taking place within Hogwarts. They all knew Harry was at the center and they were waiting things out to see where the pieces would fall.

Harry had eventually come to the conclusion that Madam Maxime was definitely a half giant like Hagrid given the way she had reacted after the selection to Harry's presence. Unlike Hagrid, she would have the skill and experience necessary to see through his glamour, which only magical creatures could see through. He wasn't concerned that she would rat him out to anyone since doing so would also out her heritage, though frankly Harry thought that anyone who didn't recognize the highly obvious sign was a complete idiot.

One of the biggest surprises though, came in the form of Malfoy. He was the same as ever in public but Harry ran into him again in the library several times as they both conducted their own private research. They ended up holding several casual conversations ranging from politics to the sheer stupidity of some of the students and were slowly starting to bury their animosity towards each other. Malfoy could tell that there was something drastically different about Harry, something that had happened during the summer obviously, but he didn't dare to ask about it. He was far too Slytherin to simply out right ask but that didn't stop him from trying to work the conversation towards any insights. He didn't gain many, as Harry was very careful to turn the conversations back away from where he didn't want them to be. Malfoy often ended up leaving their conversations shocked at how utterly Slytherin Harry had become and how smoothly the boy had shifted the conversations.

_Come_, a voice suddenly whispered within the depths of Harry's mind as he suddenly felt a fog trying to creep its way into his mind and take hold. _Come, _it whispered a little more urgently.

Knowing what was happening and seeing it as an opportunity to get answers, Harry turned to Hermione. "Would you mind coming with me real quick?" He asked as he kept the fog of the Imperius curse within the shallowest places of his mind, making it seem like the spell had taken root.

"What about class?" Hermione asked in confusion as she paused in the middle of the hallway.

"Its history of magic," Harry scoffed with a wave his hand. He took hold of Hermione's hand and led her in the opposite direction of the history of magic classroom. "Binns wouldn't notice if we showed up to class dressed as hippos in puffer fish costumes for a Halloween party."

Despite the fact that they were in the process of skipping class Hermione couldn't help the sudden burst of laughter that escaped her lips at the image that popped into her brain at what Harry had said. It was such an absurd and unexpected thought that she ended up laughing almost the entire way down the hall as Harry followed the pull of the Imperius. Harry paused at the end of the hallway where the pull was strongest and waited for Hermione to get her laughing under control so she didn't alert whoever was trying to curse him to the fact that she was with him. He quietly instructed her to wait ten paces away from the door where the pull was coming from before he walked down the hall and through the door, plastering a glazed look on his face as he did so.

_Stop,_ the voice whispered and Harry instantly froze, seemingly obeying the commands of the spell.

"You are not what I had expected," a gruff voice said from behind Harry, one that Harry recognized all too well. Still with a glazed look frozen on his face, Harry watched through his peripheral vision as Moody stepped around him to stand in front of him. "You are far too different from what I was told; far too knowledgeable as well." Moody stood there for several long minutes assessing Harry. "You really messed up my plans didn't you?"

"And what would those plans be?" Harry questioned when Moody seemed unwilling to elaborate on his own.

"Stupefy!" Moody barked as he whipped out his wand after a moment of shock. That shock quickly turned into open mouthed amazement. Before the spells wording had been halfway out of Moody's mouth Harry had moved four feet to his left. To Moody it seemed as if Harry had Apparated, something that not even Harry could do within Hogwarts' grounds. In reality, Harry had used his enhanced vampiric abilities and moved impossibly fast, making it look like he had been in one place one second and another the next.

"Who are you working for Mad-eye?" Harry asked, almost casually with his hands clasped behind his back. Moody had managed to gather his wits enough to turn and cast another spell but once again missed as Harry moved to stand directly behind the supposed ex-Auror. "What secrets do you know?"

Just as Moody turned again Harry moved forward and knocked the wand from his hand and had him by his throat. Allowing his glamour to drop so Moody could see what he was really dealing with, Harry leaned forward, reveling in the terror he could see in the old Auror's eyes, and clamped his jaws down on Moody's neck. Memories of a broken and fractured mind flooded Harry's skull as he enacted upon a technique one of his ancestors had possessed. In everyone's blood resided the genetic record of a person's entire bloodline. None could ever access it, only certain magical creatures that could handle it, but it was still there. Those who had the skill could take such knowledge from others but it had to be done by force and by drinking the person's blood. It was for that reason why vampires were the only ones with the ability.

"So," Harry breathed as he released a still living Moody, who instantly collapsed to the ground and into unconsciousness. He would have bled to death but Harry had reluctantly cast a healing charm over his bite, sealing the wound and keeping the man alive. "Not who we say we are." He walked over to the door and leaned out into the hallway and gestured for Hermione to come closer.

"What…?" Hermione said in shock when she noticed the blood dripping down Harry's chin and staining his robes.

"Don't worry, I didn't kill anyone," Harry assured her as he motioned towards the shallow breathing form of the fake Moody. "I'll explain in a few minutes. Right now, I need you to go and fetch Professor Snape."

"Snape?" Hermione questioned in surprise, turning a shocked look to Harry. "Why?"

"Because Moody isn't who he says he is," Harry explained as he leaned down and plucked Moody's hip flask off his body. He opened it and held it under Hermione's nose. Her eyes widened as she recognized the smell of Polyjuice. "If Snape questions you, tell him that his old friend _junior_ wants to say hi."

Hermione, while she looked confused, didn't question and simply walked off at a quick pace. Harry leisurely walked back over to the unconscious Mood and plucked another item off the body while waving his wand and conjuring a chair, placing it so he was facing the door with Moody between it and him. He waved his wand again before sitting back and began absently admiring the magic on Moody's keys after cleaning up his appearance. It was a subtle magic and pulsed lazily around the cold metal but it was very specific magic as well.

"Potter!" Snape's voice suddenly snapped some fifteen minutes later. Seconds after his outburst he was bumped forward as a simple looking trunk floated lazily past and towards Harry.

"Professor," Harry greeted as he stood up and cancelled the magic keeping the trunk aloft. "A pleasure as always."

"What is the meaning of this?" The surly Potions Master demanded as he looked between Harry, Moody, and Hermione.

"If you wait about another twenty seconds you will find out," Harry said as he tossed the flask to Snape, who caught it out of reflex, and kneeled down in front of the trunk. He rifled through the keys before finding the right one and inserted it into the last lock. With a turn of the key the lid popped open, revealing a large spiral staircase that wound down several meters.

"If you do not explain this instant you won't see the end of detention for the–" Snape's demand was cut off as Moody's unconscious form started twitching and bubbling. The false leg and magical eye popped off as natural parts took their place. Snape's ever present cold mask slipped momentarily and he inhaled sharply as he recognized who was lying on the floor.

"Told you," Harry hollered, already half way down the stairs. "I suggest you bind the man before he regains consciousness." When he reached the bottom of the stairs Harry found the real Mad-eye and levitated him back up the steps in front of him. "I doubt he'd be much of a threat if he did though." He added quietly to himself.

"Mr. Potter," Snape snarled a little less coldly than he had before as he turned from the unconscious and bound form of Barty Crouch Jr. to face Harry. "How did you discover this man's existence?"

"I probably wouldn't have if the fool hadn't tried to cast the Imperius on me," Harry explained as he conjured a magical stretcher and placed the real Moody on it. "Fool didn't realize I could resist it no matter how strongly it was cast. You know," Harry said turning to Hermione. "I should have realized something was seriously off that day he cast it on the entire class. No self respecting Auror, retired and crazy or not, would cast an unforgivable on students."

"He did what?" Snape practically screeched in shock, sounding remarkably like McGonagall. "Why wasn't the staff notified of this?"

"It wouldn't surprise me if some of them did know but were silenced by Dumbledore," Harry said with a dark scowl. "Or the students were either too fascinated or terrified of the man to say anything. Or the teachers they went to scoffed off the complaints since most of them know Mad-eye and know he would never do such a thing. I'm surprised _you're _just finding out Professor. I figured your snakes would have come to you and told you what was going on."

"No," Snape said in annoyance. His usual scowl deepened until he looked like an angry gargoyle. "None of them came to me. Either he didn't do it on any of the Slytherin's or he obliviated them immediately afterwards."

"I'd go for obliviated," Harry said as he began to move Moody out of the room, levitating the trunk behind him. "Because our entire class was witness to Malfoy doing the chicken dance around the room. I'll be in the Hospital Wing if anyone needs me." He added as he left the room completely, Hermione hesitating briefly before trailing after Harry.

"So who is that man?" Hermione questioned curiously when she caught up with Harry.

"Barty Crouch Jr." Harry answered with a slightly sour look on his face. Crouch's blood hadn't been the most pleasant of drinks, especially with the Polyjuice Potion mixed in with it. "He was supposed to have died in Azkaban a year after his incarceration but Sr. and his mother smuggled him out and he lived under the Imperius for the next decade and a half before he broke free."

"Sr.?" Hermione questioned, putting the pieces together a little more slowly than Harry. "As in the man currently sitting on the judges' panel for the tournament and who holds the head office for the Department for International Magical Cooperation?"

"Yes, but that's irrelevant really," Harry said with a negligent wave of his hand.

"Harry!" Hermione said, laying a hand on said boy's elbow to get him to stop and face her. "Not only did a high ranking official of the Ministry break someone out of Azkaban but he kept that prisoner under an Unforgivable for an entire decade! How could that be irrelevant?"

"Hermione," Harry said patiently, preparing himself for what was likely to become a heated debate. He did motion for her to keep walking though. "Why are the Unforgivables called unforgivable? Now," he added before Hermione could even open her mouth to protest. "I know that the Ministry classifies them as such and their use will gain anyone a one way trip to Azkaban, _but_ why?"

"Because they're vile and cruel," Hermione answered readily.

"They are considered unforgivable because of two reasons," Harry clarified, raising his finger for emphasis. "They are the darkest of Dark Magic and because they have been used by vile and cruel people." He held up a hand to forestall what she was about to say. "Think about it. If you were to come across someone at the end of a major war and they were too injured to be saved, even by magic, and they would spend hours suffering in unimaginable pain before they passed. Would you let them suffer or would you let them go in peace? If you were attacked and the only way you could think of to defend yourself was to take complete control over your attacker would you? If you were blind by such inconsolable grief and pain at the loss of someone you hold dear wouldn't you want to cause the one who took them from you the same amount of pain?" Hermione had grown silent towards the end of Harry's passionate speech. It was obvious that he had started her looking at the Unforgivables in a different light. "Those curses were created from the most innocent and understandable of situations Hermione. It's when public gained knowledge of them that they turned vile."

The two of them walked the rest of the way to the Hospital Wing in silence. Hermione was thinking over what Harry had said and Harry was politely giving her space to think. The minute they entered the ward Madam Pomfrey started demanding answers. Harry easily and calmly informed her of a slightly altered version of what had transpired and she immediately started going to work. Harry took Hermione over to the other side of the room to remain out of her way and so they could talk quietly.

"So why is what Crouch Sr. did irrelevant?" Hermione eventually asked, moving back to safer grounds. She was still uncertain of how she felt about the Unforgivables and wasn't ready to talk about that just yet.

"Because his son's activities are much more interesting," Harry said, sounding just as eager for the change of subject as Hermione was.

"And what activities would those be?" Someone else said causing Harry and Hermione both to start badly at the unexpected voice and intrusion into their conversation. Harry turned to glare up at the Headmaster, all the while wondering how the old man had managed to sneak up on him. Sure, he had been slightly distracted but he hadn't even heard Dumbledore enter the ward.

"Don't you know it's rude to eavesdrop on other people's conversations?" Harry groused, his annoyance showing clearly on his face. Before the old man could say anything else, Harry raised his hand and a small shockwave pulsed from his hand, freezing Dumbledore in place. "Anyways," he said as he turned back to Hermione, who was looking between Harry and Dumbledore in mild shock. "Crouch Jr. was here at Voldemort's orders. Apparently, the decrepit creature is still alive, and alive enough to formulate a plan to kidnap me in order to help bring him back to full power."

"Uh," Hermione said elegantly, torn between questioning Harry about his use of magic to freeze Dumbledore and commenting on learning about Voldemort's activities.

"Oh don't worry," Harry said, noticing her indecision. "He's just frozen. A simple time spell is all. Eh… it's not really a time spell but rather a spell designed to slow down molecules to the point where something looks frozen in time. I can teach it to you sometime if you like."

"Nifty," Hermione said with a nod of understanding and certainly planning on taking Harry up on his offer one day. "Now, about Voldemort," she continued leadingly.

"Yes," Harry said, casting a glance at Madam Pomfrey to make sure that she was still absorbed in helping the real moody and wasn't frozen by his small spell. "I'm not entirely certain how he's survived, though I would gander a guess that it has something to do with that diary from second year. Sadly, Crouch Jr. didn't know either how Voldemort had managed to survive death, nor does he know exactly where Voldemort is hiding out." Harry paused briefly, scratching his chin in thought. "He knows how to get there by Apparating but not precisely where it is or the name of the village. Although, his mind was seriously affected by Azkaban so it's possible he does know and I just can't sort through the chaos enough to find out."

"Why does he need you though?" Hermione questioned, not understanding that particular bit of information.

"Well I seriously doubt that he _needs _me _specifically_," Harry said as his mind raced a mile a minute, trying to examine the situation from every angle and see every possible probability. "However, as you know, the Potter line has been predominantly Light in their magic and my mother was muggleborn so I've no preceding knowledge about resurrections and necromancy. Not to mention people like me," he laid a hand dramatically on his chest. "Have never really had any need or desire to look into that realm of magic, so none of those predecessors had any knowledge of that either."

"Well that's unfortunate," Hermione said with a small huff of disappointment. She was getting used to Harry knowing everything. "Can't you just go to this village though and take Voldemort out while he's weak? Certainly he wouldn't even pose much of a threat."

"Well I could certainly try," Harry said with a shrug. "But if he's being sustained or linked to this plane of existence by some external force then I would just be eliminating a husk, a vessel of sorts, and he would just keep on coming back until we sever his link with this world completely. Until he becomes a serious threat then I think it would be best if we bided our time by researching how he has managed to cheat death."

"Perhaps," another voice sounded, this one having been expected by Harry this time as he had sensed the other man's approach. "Before you delve into this research, you would explain just how you have managed to come by the information you have already acquired." Harry turned in his seat to face Snape but before he could say anything, Snape continued speaking. "And I thank you not to insult my intelligence by lying. I've had enough dealings in Dark magic and… other things to recognize something, whether it is wearing glamours or not."

"Do you know what or just _something_?" Harry questioned with a slight smirk as he leaned back in his chair. The quirk of Snape's eyebrow was his only response. "Well, then I gained the information through… shall we say unconventional and probably slightly unethical means. And it came from the imposter. It was also why the man was so deeply unconscious." A slight, amused snort from Hermione told Harry what she thought of his choice in words to keep his secrets.

"And our frozen friend?" Snape inquired with a slight gesture towards Dumbledore, who was still frozen.

"Bah!" Harry said, waving his hand and cancelling the spell. "Had to find some way to have a private conversation didn't I?"

"You couldn't erect a privacy screen because…?" Snape asked, though he didn't sound the least bit upset that Harry had cast a spell on Dumbledore. On the contrary, given the way the old man was currently looking about wild eyed in confusion, Snape looked rather amused at the old fool's situation.

"Eh," Harry said, sounding bored with the idea, and he was. "Completely plebian and utterly dull. If you can, why not have a little fun?" Snape fought valiantly not to laugh while Hermione had no problems showing her mirth.

"What is going on here?" Dumbledore demanded, finally finding his voice. "Where did you come from Severus?"

"The door," Harry said as if it should have been obvious. "He's been here for the past ten minutes while you've been standing there spacing out. We tried to get your attention but you were just off in your own little world." Hermione broke into a fit of giggles and Snape broke and let an evil little smirk play on his face. "Perhaps Professor Snape here can fill you in on all the gory little details while I go and get in some studying before I have to serve the detention he has served me for skipping class. You said first thing after dinner right Professor?"

"Yes," Snape said, easily keeping up with the façade. You didn't spend a year or so as a spy and not learn how to act in accordance with the situation. "My office after dinner. If you're late I'll deduct more points."

Harry nodded and strode easily from the Hospital Wing, casting a small surveying glance towards the still working Pomfrey and her patient. Moody looked rather worse for wear but Pomfrey's ministrations were quickly setting him on the mend. Hermione followed Harry towards the library where he sweet-talked Madam Pince into letting him have access to the Restricted Section. He picked out a few promising books and the two of them settled down to research the topic of death and necromancy. It was a grueling subject to dig into and far from pleasant but they managed, Harry more so than Hermione given his predisposition towards death. By the time dinner had rolled around, they both had a much greater understanding of the subject but they were no closer to discovering how Voldemort had survived or why he needed, or wanted, Harry specifically.

"So when exactly did you become so methodical?" Snape inquired when Harry had entered his office. "For that matter when did you become… what, a vampire?"

"Nice deductions Professor," Harry applauded as he glided into the office and sat down in a chair in front of Snape's desk. "Was it the complete lack of evidence of a mental intrusion to junior's mind that gave me away?"

"Actually, you missed a spot of blood on your collar," Snape said making a gesture to the tiny spec that stood out on the white fabric around Harry's neck. It was almost unnoticeable but for one who has been trained to notice inconsistencies it was like a bloody handprint on a wall. "After that I discovered the remnants of your bite. And yes the lack of mental intrusion, into an almost destroyed mind at that."

"Hmmm," Harry hummed as he pulled out his collar to examine the spec of blood he had missed. He shrugged and rubbed his thumb and forefinger over it to make it vanish with a quick spell. "Very perceptive of you I must say. I doubt anyone else would have made such connections though, particularly not Dumbledore. The fool wouldn't notice a vampire if one bit him in the ass. Not that any would bother. His blood is so old it'd likely taste like mud infused wine." Harry made a face like a cat that ate something horrid.

Severus bit back a snort and chose not to comment. "So I take it you were bitten yourself at some point during this summer."

"Actually no, I inherited the gene from my father's side of the family." At Severus' disbelieving look he lowered his glamour and revealed his neck saying, "No bite marks. Unbelievable though it may be I did inherit the gene. I'm still trying to figure out why it activated so late though. For the life of me I can't figure why I turned so late instead of at six like it should have been."

"A weak gene perhaps?" Severus suggested, though he didn't sound overly confident of the suggestion.

"Perhaps, but not likely," Harry said with a shrug of indifference. Really, to him it didn't matter much. He was just curious. "Would you mind if I picked your brain about something Professor?" He asked, changing the subject.

"As long as it's not literally," Snape said calmly, treating Harry with more respect than he normally would. Obviously knowing that he was dealing with a dangerous magical creature had altered his opinion of the boy he had supposedly despised for the past four years. Of course, Harry's change in attitude probably helped things as well.

"Oh I would never," Harry said with a slight smirk, recognizing Snape's subtle humor. "I was wondering though, you were a Death Eater yes?"

"Not a fact I'm proud of, why?" Snape said in a somewhat bitter tone.

"Well I was just curious if you knew anything that might lead to an explanation for how the Dark Lord has managed to stay alive all these years." Harry asked brusquely yet as gently as possible. It was quite obvious that the subject was sensitive for Snape and he didn't want to linger on it any longer than possible.

"The Dark Lord," Snape said with a heavy sigh as he sat back in his chair. "Mad as he was, or is rather, has always been ridiculously paranoid. A few of the Inner circle foolishly thought themselves to be considered friends by the Dark Lord but he has no friends. He has tools, things and people he uses to achieve his own ends. He manipulates people like a puppet master pulling strings to act out certain scenarios he desires." Snape paused in thought as he rubbed his temples. Harry was mildly surprised that the man was being so open considering they had never liked each other. "As versed as I am in the Dark Arts, the Dark Lord has even more knowledge. He spent years travelling and learning obscure aspects of the Arts and has become all but a master and he _is_ a master dueler. Very few have ever crossed wands with him and lived. I'd say there probably aren't more than five, including your parents. So you can understand how the Dark Lord may have discovered some type of magic that I have no knowledge of."

"Yes," Harry said with a nod. "The Dark Arts is a very vast and varied aspect of magic. Do you know _anything_ that might be helpful?"

"I know that when he wasn't on a spree he chose his murder victims very carefully and specifically," Snape said after a few moments of thought. "He took keen interest in people who had things he didn't, like a Gringotts vault. He was also obsessed with proclaiming himself as Slytherin's heir and with covering up the fact that he is a half blood. Surprisingly most think that he is a pureblood given his stance on half bloods and muggleborns."

"Hmmm," Harry hummed in thought. Before he could say or do anything else there came a knock on Snape's door.

"Enter!" Snape called authoritatively.

"Hey Unc–" Malfoy cut himself off mid sentence when he noticed Harry sitting in front of Snape's desk. "Detention again Potter? I'm surprised they haven't kicked you out yet."

"There's no need for masks here Draco," Harry chuckled as he stood up and straightened his shirt. "I doubt Professor Snape is going to fault us for burying our animosity. Especially since it has resulted in fewer points lost for his house." He tossed a wink at Draco before he bid Snape a good night and left the office.

"When exactly did you two bury your animosity?" Snape asked Draco once Harry had shut the door firmly behind him and he had erected several privacy wards.

"It started around Halloween," Draco said, mildly nervous. Snape may have always been more lenient towards Draco because of their history before Draco started attending Hogwarts but he could still be harsh if necessary.

"I see," Snape said with a nod. "I'll not fault you Draco. It shows you are better than petty rivalries… and because it has saved our house points." Draco and Snape both smirked at that but Snape quickly sobered up. "However, I must advise you to step very carefully. Mr. Potter's secrets remain his but they can affect us all. He is not as… shall we say simple as he was last year."

"You know what happened to him over the summer." Draco said, making it a statement and not a question.

"His secrets remain his," Snape said more firmly, indicating that he wouldn't say anything on that matter and subtly indicating towards the door, hinting at the possibility that they were being listened to, which of course they were. Despite the privacy wards Snape had erected, Harry stood on the other side of the door and could hear perfectly fine. He smirked to himself before walking off towards other parts of the castle.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

Harry sat in the stands of the Quidditch pitch dividing his time between reading and keeping an eye on the three dragons that were a part the first task. He probably wouldn't have bothered paying attention to the task at all if it weren't for the fact that all three dragons were eyeing him wearily. They obviously knew he was a vampire since they were magical creatures but what held his interest was the fact that they seemed scared of him. Given that they were several times larger than him and could easily crush him Harry had to wonder why they would be frightened of him.

"Is it me or do those dragons keep looking over here?" Hermione questioned somewhat nervously. She tried to be quiet so no one else could hear her but given the cheering of the crowd it was nearly impossible for her to whisper and still be heard, even for Harry's advanced hearing.

"Definitely," Fred said as he appeared next to Hermione.

"Not you," George said as he materialized next to Harry.

"They've looked over here at least,"

"Twelve times in the past five minutes."

"The question is though," Fred said seriously as looked at the weary dragons. "Why do they look frightened?"

"They obviously feel threatened," Harry said as he did his best to remain as still as possible. He didn't want to provoke the dragons into panicking and injuring the spectators. Harry considered leaving entirely but he figured that if the dragons couldn't see him then they would become even more frightened.

"What could possibly threaten dragons?" George questioned in surprise. "Dragons are at the top of the food chain. Only giants would pose any sort of threat to them and even then the dragons would likely come out on top."

"We're obviously missing something," Harry said in a conversational tone, sounding as if they weren't talking about nervous dragons. "There's obviously something out there that can make a dragon feel threatened. Can't imagine what though."

"Dear brother," George said as he gave Harry a searching look before transferring his gaze to his twin. "Do you hear what I hear?"

"I believe so brother," Fred said as he looked between Hermione and Harry. "Do you see what I see?"

"If you want to ask then ask," Harry said in amusement, though it only showed in his voice. "Just don't expect an answer amongst all these people."

"Why would we ask something when there are so many cues for us to see the answers for ourselves?" The twins asked together as Fred moved to place his head between Harry and Hermione.

"Indeed," George said in a whisper into Harry's ear. "The only question we have is,"

"Why are they scared of you?" They asked together, looking directly at Harry's neutral face and stiff posture.

"A question with an answer to be sure," Harry said in a cryptic manner as he calmly turned the page in his book. "But one that I cannot find and one I wish to know."

"Uh… Harry," Hermione said, sounding much more nervous than she had a few moments ago. "Perhaps we should leave."

"I would love to but I'm afraid that if I move then the dragons might attack," Harry said simply as he glanced sideways at Hermione. He saw her looking about to panic.

"Hate to tell you mate," Fred said as he slowly moved away.

"But it looks like they're getting ready to do just that." George finished as he mirrored his twin.

Harry finally looked fully up from his book and towards the event. The champions had already completed their tasks but the victory wasn't as sweet as they would have liked. The dragon that Krum had injured with his spell was snarling and rasping in pain while the other two flanked it and slowly stalked towards the section of the Quidditch stands where Harry was sitting. Everyone else in the stands, including the judges, were all staring in shock and fear at the dragons' behavior. Several of the nearby students, including Hermione and the twins, all slowly made their way out of the stands and out of the path of the dragons.

Harry didn't dare move as the dragons approached and he did his absolute best to remain as unthreatening as possible. He calmly closed his book and folded his hands on top of it. The dragons moved slowly and deliberately, as if they were choosing their steps with great care. Harry was quietly wondering why the judges and dragon handlers weren't doing anything but then his ears picked up the most tantalizing and soothing melody, a melody that tickled his memories.

_You_, the Chinese Fireball, the dragon Victor Krum had injured, spoke with its mind, easily slipping past Harry's shields. It reared up the side of the stands and pushed its head closer to Harry so they were eye to eye. _You are changed._

_Yes,_ Harry responded with a raised eyebrow.

_You are confused,_ the Welsh Green said. As it made contact Harry noted an increase in the melody. He seemed entirely unaffected but out of the corner of his peripheral Harry noticed that all of the remaining spectators were weaving back and forth like they were in a trance. _You don't know. When did you turn?_

_The end of July, about four months past,_ Harry answered as he looked to the dragon who spoke in great curiosity, eager to see if he would finally get some answers. For some reason though, his answer seemed to excite the dragons even more and he could feel them talking amongst themselves.

_You are more than you know yet,_ the Swedish Short-Snout said as it pushed its nose towards Harry, taking in big whiffs. _Go to the Louvre in Paris. You will find answers there._

_Free us! _All three dragons roared with their minds, causing Harry to black out from the sheer magnitude of the roar.

"Harry!" A voice sounded through the darkness that encompassed Harry's mind. He recognized the voice and his scattered mind had to fight to place it as Hermione's. "Harry! Come on Harry wake up!"

"That. Hurt." Harry grumbled petulantly as he slowly started to bring order to his mind. "They could have at least been gentle about it."

"Who could have been gentle about what?" Hermione said as Harry opened his eyes and rubbed them. "What hurt?"

"The dragons," Harry said as he straightened up in his seat and fully opened up his eyes. He froze when he saw that he was laying in the Hospital Wing. He looked around and noticed a few other people, most notably the champions of the tournament being patched up from their ordeal with the dragons. "How long was I out?" He sighed in annoyance.

"Almost an hour and a half," Hermione said, relief in her voice. "I wasn't too worried at first, Pomfrey just said that you had passed out and went on to deal with the champions. Then she started talking about consulting Dumbledore when you wouldn't wake. I only just now began to panic when your glamour failed."

"What!?" Harry said in shock as he wandlessly and wordlessly summoned a mirror to examine his appearance. He swore very colorfully and in several different languages as he set about reapplying his glamour the way he wanted it. "I'm gonna kill those bloody dragons."

"What did the dragons do to you?" Hermione asked in confusion. "They never even left their enclosures let alone came near you."

"Oh they came near me alright," Harry said as he finished with his glamour before banishing the mirror and getting out of bed. "Right up close and personal they got. Close enough to eat me but instead gave me a migraine and a very cryptic message. It is Friday right? In the evening?"

"Late afternoon more rather but yeah," Hermione said, completely baffled at the sudden segue. "Why?"

"But classes are over for the day because of the tournament yes?" Harry continued, seeming to ignore Hermione's question as he lead the way up to the Gryffindor Tower, fussing with his clothes as he went.

"Yeah," Hermione said, keeping a tight hold on her tongue, knowing Harry would answer in due time.

"Brilliant!" Harry chirped as he dashed up to the boys' dorm with Hermione hot on his heels. Thankfully the dorm was completely empty. "Care to make a trip to Pairs with me?"

"As in France?" Hermione said in complete shock.

"Well I certainly don't mean Pairs Texas," Harry said as he dug around in his trunk momentarily and pulled out a few things, namely a long coat and more appropriate muggle clothing. "Far too hot for my tastes, not to mention sunny. Boil alive I would."

"Harry," Hermione said, doing her best not to giggle at Harry's pun. "It's the middle of the school year. We can't just go gallivanting off to a different country."

"Course we can! Well," Harry said as he threw on a black muggle business suit complete with a blood red tie. "I can since I'm head of my family. You would need a note from your parents. I could forge one for you, or I could just have them do it, though that would take a secondary trip."

"I never thought I would meet a person who could talk as fast as me, when explaining something only making less sense while they're at it." Hermione grumbled as she rubbed her temples in irritation. She threw a glare at Harry when she noticed him smirking at her. "Why are we going to Pairs?"

"To visit the Louvre like the dragons told me," Harry said cheerfully as he finished with his tie, threw on his suit jacket and then his long over coat. "Said I'd find answers there and I'm getting quite tired of not knowing what's going on. Bottom line though, you want to come or not?"

"You'll be the death of me," Hermione sighed in resignation as she turned and made her way out of the boys' dorm.

"Come now Hermione," Harry said cheerfully as he bounced along behind her down the stairs. "It's not all bad. Least you still get to have some fun."

"I'll meet you in the entrance hall you loon." Hermione said as she waved the boy off and started up the stairs to the girls' dorm to get dressed.

Harry chuckled evilly and made his way out of the tower. Despite the fact that he had been knocked out and received a rather nasty headache from the force of the dragons' demand for freedom, Harry was in a rather good mood. It probably had something to do with the fact that he would finally get to see one of the places he had been dreaming about since he was a child, a dream he had buried deep in his psyche, but it was also likely due to the fact that he was going to get some answers for once. Ever since his change it had been one question after another, each with no answer readily available.

"For being so nicely dressed, you certainly seem rather lost in your thoughts." A smooth drawl sounded from behind Harry and to his right. Harry turned to see Draco approaching and looking his Sunday best as any pureblood child would.

"Bet you thought I didn't own such nice clothes huh?" Harry replied with a smirk as he turned back to watch the snow fall from the entrance to the castle.

"I was certain of it until this past Halloween when things started to change," Draco answered as he mirrored Harry and stood in the doorway watching the snow fall. "Or was it at the start of the school year when you showed up at the station in casual wizard robes instead of that drag you used to consider muggle clothing."

"Is it my fault that those things that call themselves my relatives never gave me any proper clothing?" Harry asked a little bitterly at the memory of his relatives. His scowl quickly turned into a nasty smirk though as he recalled their current predicament. No one knew it but once he had control of the Potter Estate, including all the other various titles that encompassed, Harry had royally screwed the Dursleys over. They were now stuck in the middle of the Siberian Tundra with no home, no food, no jobs, no education, no money, and no way back to Britain. He could imagine them now, nearly freezing to death like he had almost done every winter in those rags they had given him.

"Must've been something horrible," Draco said, once again dragging Harry from his thoughts.

"What?" Harry asked in confusion, not following Draco's train of thought.

"What you did to your relatives," Draco clarified. "Must've been something horrible to elicit such a sinfully pleased look on your face."

"Who says I did anything to them?" Harry said in an attempt at innocence. The look was marred slightly by the slight smirk on his face.

"Say what you like," Draco said with a smirk of his own. "But a Malfoy knows when and how to spot a charade. It's a good one mind you but a charade none the less. Just like your glamour." Harry's head shot around to look directly at Draco when he whispered those last words. Unconcerned, Draco continued. "I probably wouldn't have considered looking past it if Severus hadn't acted so strange in his office the other day when I interrupted your conversation."

"I didn't know the Malfoy's had any active Veela genes," Harry said as understanding dawned on him.

"There aren't any really," Draco said with an indifferent shrug. "The gene usually just presents itself through the persistent blond hair and fairer features. It is actually very rare for a male half blood to have active genes outside the hair." Draco looked around to ensure they weren't being overheard. "So where are you off to?"

"Always fishing aren't you?" Harry said with a small laugh. "Pairs. Those oh so friendly dragons decided to give me some advice along with a headache."

"Yes," Draco said with a nod. "I was wondering about that. Why do they want you to go to Pairs?"

"Said I'd find answers there," Harry said with an uncertain shrug. He wondered at first how Draco knew what the dragons had done when no one else was making a fuss over it but he quickly attributed it to his magical creature blood. Most magical creatures had some sort of immunity towards other creatures' scents, spells, and glamours; only minor stuff though, anything bigger and they lose their immunity. "Naturally they couldn't just give me the answers themselves. Really bugs the crap out of me when people do that. Honestly! If you know something pertinent to a particular situation then just say it! Cut out all the cryptic message stuff."

"Sadly that's just the way things have to work," Draco said with a sympathetic snicker. His entire life had been riddled with people being cryptic and speaking with hidden messages so he understood completely where Harry was coming from. "Mind if I tag along? Been a while since I've been to Pairs." Harry gave him look, silently asking if the boy was sane. "Standing parental consent," Draco said with a smirk as he pulled out a folded piece of parchment and handed it over to Harry. "Severus knows. I don't usually take advantage of it but it is the weekend after all and I've nothing better to do. Besides this tournament is only interesting when there's an event."

"Well it's not me you have to worry about," Harry said as he handed back the note. "Though I am curious as to how you managed to get your parents to sign a standing consent note to go wherever you want."

"Lucius doesn't particularly give a crap, especially lately, so it was easy to get him to sign. Mother was actually happy to sign it to allow us to spend a little more time together." Draco explained as he stuffed the letter back into his pocket. "And who do I have to worry about then if not you?"

"Hermione," Harry said with a smirk.

Draco groaned rubbed the left side of his face in remembered pain. "Remind me to compliment her on her right hook."

"Compliment accepted," Hermione's voice sounded from behind them. Harry and Draco turned to see Hermione walking towards them in a thick coat and a casual but nice outfit, perfect for a visit to the Louvre. "Is he coming as well?"

"If he wants, I don't particularly see any reason to stop him," Harry said as he looped one of Hermione's arms and started walking, Draco keeping up on his other side. Harry felt the eyes of someone watching him but he didn't bother to look back to see who. He knew who it was, or rather who _they _were since there was more than one. A pair belonged to a redhead and a pair belonged to a senile old fool that shouldn't be in charge. "Especially since he seems to have a good deal of respect for your right hook."

"A healthy respect brought on by personal experience," Draco confirmed with a nod, which only caused the other two to break down in giggles.

"I must say Malfoy," Hermione said as they neared the gates and the end of the wards. "I knew you and Harry had started getting along but I'm surprised you're being so amicable towards me. I am, after all, still a muggleborn."

"Yes well, I actually have nothing against muggleborns," Draco said, surprising Hermione. "Many, like you, are quite intelligent and easy to get along with. Unfortunately, due to the reputation my father has built for the Malfoy family I've been forced to uphold a certain image. If anyone else asks I never said this, but I am sorry about my past behavior… You don't have your license." He tacked on the end when they crossed the boundary and Harry held out his hand.

"So?" Harry asked in confused disregard. "It's not like they can track my use of magic."

"License for what?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Apparating," Harry said as Draco caved and placed his hand into Harry's. "Deep breath Hermione and relax."

Hermione barely managed to take a deep breath as instructed before Harry tightened his grip and twisted. Hermione was then forced to endure what was probably the weirdest and most disorienting experience of her life. She felt like she was being squeezed through a tube of tooth paste and spun around in a circle at high speeds at the same time. Just as she started to feel like she was suffocating the sensation stopped and she once again had control over her body.

"Nice placement," Draco commented with a nod of approval as he looked around the bathroom they had landed in. "Smart too with a first timer." He added with a gesture towards Hermione as she stood doubled over the sink trying to suppress her stomach.

"I thought so," Harry said as he politely pulled back Hermione's hair and handed her a potion to settle her stomach. "Figured it was better than hurling in an alleyway or in the middle of the sidewalk where everyone could see."

"Where are we?" Draco asked as he poked around the bathroom a little bit.

"Brasserie du Louvre," Harry answered with a surprisingly good French accent. "Across the street from The Louvre."

Draco nodded in understanding, recognizing the name of the hotel. After a few more minutes Hermione managed settle herself down and they left the bathroom individually and two minutes apart so as to avoid suspicion. The three of them casually walked down the sidewalk of the busy streets of Pairs, trudging through the snow all the while. Since the Louvre was right across the street from the Brasserie du Louvre it didn't take them long to reach the famous museum. Given the time of day and year, it was not surprising to see more people leaving the museum than entering. Indeed, the line to enter the building was fairly short.

"Bonjour," Harry said in greeting to the lovely woman who was behind the desk dealing with purchases and handing out tickets. The woman returned his greeting and Harry continued. "Trois tout accès passe s'il vous plait."

"Je suis désolé monsieur." The lady said with a sorry but professional face and a slight head shake. "Le musée ferme en quelques heures et nous n'avons pas distribuer les passe en cette fin."

"Ah, une telle honte." Harry said in such a disappointed tone. To any who bothered to look saw that the woman was starting to melt. "Nous étions tellement impatients de naviguer sur le musée."

"I didn't know he spoke French," Hermione whispered to Draco while Harry rather shamelessly flirted with the woman behind the desk, slowly turning her into putty in his hands. Not that Hermione could understand what he was saying but it was pretty obvious from how the girl was acting, blushing every ten seconds from something Harry had said.

"Me either," Draco, who did speak French, said as he divided his attention between talking to Hermione and listing in on Harry's skillful manipulation. "I admit to not knowing much about vampires but I would presume it has something to do with his change over the summer."

"Well that would make sense," Hermione said as she recalled the few things Harry had told her about being a vampire.

"Merci," Harry said as he placed a chaste kiss on the back of the woman's hand after accepting three all access passes. The woman blushed deeper as she responded with a quick de rien and ushered Harry away so she could recover herself.

"Very Slytherin Harry, very Slytherin," Draco said as he looped the pass that Harry handed him over his neck. "And rather shamelessly I might add."

"Well how else were we supposed to get all access passes this close to closing?" Harry said with a smirk. As he walked, he looped his badge around his neck and worked a little magic around it. "Besides it's not like it was difficult. Poor girl is so lonely she'd have given us the money in the till just for a lick of attention."

"Sad really," Hermione mused as she glanced over her shoulder the way they came. The girl behind the counter was still flustered and looking like a ripe apple.

"So," Draco said as they moved deeper into the museum, passing the inverted glass pyramid on the way. "What exactly is it that we're looking for?"

"Haven't the foggiest," Harry said with a shrug as he clasped his hands behind his back and marveled at the various pieces of art, particularly at the paintings. "The dragons weren't exactly specific when they told me to come here. They just told me where to go, demanded freedom, and gave me a nasty headache."

The three of them meandered throughout the museum, gawking at the brilliant works of art. The Mona Lisa, Madonna of the Rocks, The Last Supper and other such marvelous works were displayed for all to see and since the museum was nearing closing, Harry, Hermione, and Draco had the luxury of the museum to themselves. They passed a few security guards but none of them paid them any mind, acting as if they weren't even there, obviously as a result of some type of spell.

When it was nearing midnight and the three of them had meandered through a good chunk of the museum they started making their way out. Harry was slightly irritated that they hadn't found anything. He had been really looking forward to finding some answers about his situation. Feeling highly disappointed and a bit put out; Harry almost missed something very significant on their way out of the building. They had just passed the inverted pyramid and were almost to the exit when Harry froze and tried to process what he thought he saw. He looked back over his shoulder and looked at the pair of pyramids again.

"Harry?" Hermione questioned when she noticed his absence and looked back for him. "What's wrong?"

"You don't see that?" Harry asked, looking back at Hermione and Draco briefly before returning to the pyramids.

"See… what?" Hermione questioned. All she saw was the famous pair of pyramids.

"It's glowing," Harry said turning fully and marching back towards the pyramids and started stalking around it, examining it from all angles. "The entire bottom pyramid is glowing. It's not lit up from external lights and it's stone so it isn't designed to glow in the dark. Something is lighting it up from the inside."

"Why are you the only one who can see it though?" Hermione asked. "If it's magical why can't I see it too?"

"Creature magic most likely," Draco cut in as he stood next to Hermione and bent down to examine the pyramid. "More specifically vampire magic because I don't see anything either. Do you see any kind of writing or markings?"

"No," Harry said hesitantly after making another round around the pyramid. "However," he continued as he looked up at the glass pyramid. His face split into a knowing smile. "Those cheeky dragons."

"What?" Hermione asked in confusion and a little irritation. She was getting frustrated at not being able to see or examine what Harry could see.

"They knew I would come here first thing after waking up," Harry explained as he slowly paced around the pyramids, never taking his eyes off the glass. "They knew that I would head straight to Pairs after waking from them knocking me out and they knew that we would spend enough time here for it to be midnight on our way out. They knew I would find this."

"What is this exactly?" Draco inquired before Hermione could open her mouth. It was obvious that she was getting annoyed by the lack of any clear answers.

"There are runes etched onto the edges of the glass," Harry explained. "Runes so microscopic that you would need a thousand magnifying glasses to even know they're there. They're designed to activate under moonlight. That's why this pyramid was built."

He reached up and touched one of the panes of glass. Hermione and Draco flinched when the glass flared but Harry had expected it and merely moved on to another pane. After a third the moonlight, from a full moon, became amplified by the magic in the structure. It jumped from the tip of the glass pyramid to the tip of the stone pyramid. The stone pyramid lit up like a light house briefly before it calmed, taking every other source of light in the vicinity with it.

"Well that was lovely," Hermione groused as she looked this way and that in the pitch dark room. Even the light above ground stopped shining through the pyramid. The moon light had become too faint to see by, at least for Hermione and Draco.

"Patience Hermione," Harry said, a slight hint of amusement to his voice. "It's not done yet." Seconds after he finished speaking, a single panel of the stone pyramid light up and projected an orb twice the size of Harry's fist three feet in front of it. "I must compliment whoever built this. The magic truly is remarkable."

"I'll say," Hermione said as she cautiously stepped forward to examine the holographic sphere. "I've never even heard of something like this outside of muggle technology."

"It looks like a puzzle," Draco commented as he came up next to Hermione.

"It is," Harry confirmed with a nod of his head. "Just like a rubrics cube. You have to move the sections until you get the right image to display."

"How are we supposed to do that when we don't even know what the image is supposed to be?" Hermione complained as she looked from the sphere to Harry. "It could take us days to try and figure that out what it's supposed to be and then probably days more to complete it on the orb."

"Is she always this cheery?" Draco asked as he tried to touch the sphere only to have his fingers pass straight through the image.

"No," Harry said while Hermione huffed in annoyance. "She's just frustrated at not having all the answers."

"Humph! See if you get any help from me now!" Hermione snapped in annoyance at Harry's teasing. When all Harry did was snicker in amusement she turned and stalked off towards a nearby bench and sat down in protest.

Harry just shook his head at her antics and turned his attention towards the mysterious projection. He experimentally touched the sphere and turned one of the sections. When nothing catastrophic happened, Harry got a little more intimate with the orb. He poked, prodded, and manipulated the orb as much as he could, familiarizing himself as much as possible with the strange image. Draco watched in fascination as the other raised the orb to eye level and began trying to sort out what it should look like.

"Stop!" Draco said suddenly as he quickly grabbed Harry's arm to keep him from moving the orb again.

"What?" Harry asked in confusion, obviously not seeing what Draco saw. He had been fiddling with the orb for over half an hour and had been getting a little frustrated at not making any progress so he was hopeful that Draco had seen something he hadn't.

"The All Seeing Eye," Draco whispered in reverence. "I thought it was just a myth. Thousands of images all over the world depict it and dozens of cultures fear and respect it. Any real knowledge about its origins have been lost and even the magical world has come to view it as nothing more than a myth from ancient times."

"All myths start somewhere," Harry said as he used his enhanced speed to complete the image. Now that he knew what it should look like he had a much easier time of manipulating the orb into a recognizable image of an eye with lines all around it, like the sun.

When the image was complete, the orb seemed to scan Harry and the contents of the rest of the room. The orb seemed to be satisfied with what it found and proceeded to speak two words in a voice so deep and a language so ancient that their meaning was lost on all of them except Harry, who, though he knew not how, could understand them easily. One sip, it had said and then the stone pyramid had split in half and slid aside to reveal a pedestal in the center with a solid glass goblet resting on top. It was filled with what was obviously blood.

"Don't tell me that's the Holy Grail," Hermione, who had been silently sulking for the past half hour, said as she stood up and returned to the pyramid in curiosity.

"The Holy Grail isn't a cup Hermione," Harry said absently as he moved towards the glistening glass. The blood smelled so tantalizing that he almost didn't realize he was picking it up. He probably wouldn't have if Hermione hadn't spoken up.

"Harry! You don't know what that could do to you." Hermione said, putting a hand on Harry's arm to keep him from taking a drink.

"It's just blood Hermione," Harry said as he gently removed her hand and gave her a reassuring look. "I would be able to smell it if there were something else in it. Besides, I doubt the dragons would have sent me here just to hurt me when they could have easily done so themselves."

Hermione didn't look particularly happy but she backed down nonetheless. Harry gave her another reassuring smile before he did as the hologram instructed and took a single swallow of the delicious smelling blood. At first, nothing happened. Harry had just enough time to set the glass back down before he gasped in shock and pain. He turned from the cup and stumbled away before he fell to his knees, clutching his head.

Harry couldn't hear as both Hermione and Draco rushed to his side. His mind was reeling from the influx of information that was pouring into his mind. The blood hadn't been just blood. It was a record; a record of every single person, or rather vampire that had contributed to the pool of blood. Every single one of them had been like Harry, unique in their change, appearance, and personality. A thousand voices of a thousand memories of a thousand lives rushed through Harry's brain causing him to whine in pain.

It was almost too much for Harry to take but he didn't die or pass out, he couldn't. He wasn't just a vampire. He was the last being on the planet that carried the vampiric gene from a supreme class of vampires. His strength surpassed that of every other living creature on the planet and his immortality was absolute._ That _was the reason behind why he survived the killing curse. His vampiric gene had already been active. He would have turned at fourteen no matter what but because his gene was already active and his immortality was absolute the killing curse failed when he was a child.

"Harry!" Hermione cried in concern as she crouched next to Harry's side. "Har–" her cry was cut off by the hand that suddenly clamped around her throat, cutting off her air and the blood flow to her brain.

"Sorry," Harry apologized as he pried his own hand off her, casting a healing charm as he did so. "Involuntary reflex. It happens after a traumatic experience, which usually incites a desire to feed. It happened after I turned and resulted in four gang members… well you get the idea."

"I do," Hermione said when she stopped coughing. She turned a glare on her friend and said, "And I told you!"

"Be that as it may," Harry said as he stood up and straightened his suit and double checking that he hadn't done any real damage to Hermione's neck. "I did get what I want."

"And that was?" Draco asked leadingly, turning back slightly to see that the pyramid had returned to normal.

"Answers," Harry said in a slightly shocked huff. "Lots of answers, lots and lots of answers, more than I was expecting actually." He turned to Hermione, pointing a finger at her, causing her to lean back slightly. "I should teach you Occlumency… but we don't have time. Someone, namely Dumbledore, would likely go snooping before you mastered the art. Don't move, this'll be uncomfortable." Before Hermione could say something one way or another Harry placed his thumb on her forehead, right between her eyes.

"Wow, that's disorienting," Hermione said seconds later as she stumbled back, blinking several times as if she was trying to clear something from her eyes.

"Now imagine that on a scale of about a thousand," Harry said with an understanding nod. He had just imparted a life time of training in Occlumency into her mind and she could now defend against any mental intrusion that wasn't done by Harry. "Do you know Occlumency?" Harry asked, turning to Draco.

"Enough to defend myself," Draco said, eyeing Harry a little apprehensively. "Severus has been teaching me since I was six."

"Brilliant," Harry said with a nod as he snapped his fingers. A piece of parchment appeared in his hand and he handed it to Hermione. "You're note of parental consent. Wouldn't want Dumbledore to cause any trouble now would we?"

"Harry," Hermione said as she strived to fight off a headache. "If you could just slow down for half a second, as not all of us can move at lightning speeds here, I have a question to ask you."

"Sorry," Harry said a little sheepishly.

"Right," Hermione said, not buying the innocent look for a second. "Now, I can imagine what that cup contained. Similar to what you did with Crouch Jr., yes?" Harry nodded and Hermione continued. "So I'm assuming it gave you information about your… history. Now that you have those answers, what now?"

"Now?" Harry repeated, turning away in thought. He got a particularly nasty smile on his face. "Now, the fun begins." Hermione was on the verge of making a comment but she didn't get a chance. Harry laid a hand on her and Draco's shoulder and the three of them disappeared, only to reappear seconds later outside Hogwarts' gates.

"A little warning would have been nice," Hermione grumbled as she stumbled slightly, mildly disoriented by the sudden transport.

"At least you're not hurling," Harry said with a slight smirk as they started walking back towards the castle. He promptly dodged to the side as Hermione went to back hand his shoulder. "You're no fun when you're cranky you know that?"

"I am not cranky," Hermione protested with a slight glare. "I'm just tired. We did just wander around the world's largest art museum you know."

"Fair enough," Harry conceded.

"I'm beginning to wonder whether or not your change is a good thing," Draco commented dryly as the three of them walked towards the castle. "You've become much more… juvenile."

Harry laughed heartily at the comment. "There's a difference between juvenile and insane. You can't carry so many memories and stay entirely sane."

"An interesting notion Mr. Potter," another voice said and the three of them turned to see Dumbledore standing over them looking remarkably like Professor Snape when he catches students out of bounds and is about to deduct dozens of points and assign detentions. "Would you care to explain what memories you are referring to?"

"Oh I don't know," Harry said dramatically as he approached the old man, almost appearing as if he were stalking. "Murder, mayhem, chaos, destruction, pain, torture, and a thousand other different scenarios that would chill your old bones Headmaster. Any other questions?" Dumbledore hadn't been expecting Harry's response and so had frozen on the spot in shock. However, he quickly recovered enough to respond.

"Where have you three been?" He asked in a slightly rough voice, forcing him to pause in the middle to clear his throat.

"Pairs," Harry said, seeing no reason to lie to the old man about where they had been. Besides, telling a half truth was considerably easier than telling a complete lie.

"You left grounds without permission or authority and without an escort." Dumbledore said, gaining more confidence with every word as he started to feel like he was on more familiar ground. "That is grounds for expulsion for the three of you."

"On the contrary old man," Harry countered, having no qualms about poking jabs at Dumbledore's age, even though it garnered an indignant look from the old man. "We were well within our rights to leave. You really should check the bylaws of Hogwarts more often. Any student who so happens to be Head/Lord of the family, that's me," Harry graciously and dramatically placed a hand on his chest to emphasis his point. "Or has written permission from a parent or guardian may leave school grounds. I had business to attend to in Pairs which is why I left. Hermione wished to go with me, as she had advanced warning and had acquired a written note of consent from her parents to come with me. Mr. Malfoy here, has a note of long standing permission from his parents to go where he chooses as long as it doesn't interfere with classes, which none of us have."

"You cannot simply leave the grounds without advanced warning," Dumbledore protested, though his bluster was stolen slightly by Harry's in-depth knowledge of Hogwarts' laws and bylaws.

"According to the laws and bylaws of Hogwarts," Harry practically purred as he leaned towards the man slightly. "Advanced warning is not necessary if the student's departure does not interfere with classes. Since classes had been cancelled due to the Triwizard Tournament event that took place today advanced warning was not needed to be given. Anything else Headmaster?"

"You will be in my office first thing tomorrow morning," Dumbledore ordered, though it didn't particularly sound like an order. He then turned tail and walked off down the hallway.

"Mad," Draco said after a few moments. "Simply mad."

–Scene Break–

Harry stood in the shadows, as silent as death itself. It was nearing three in the morning, mere hours after his trip to The Louvre but Harry wasn't the least bit tired. He was a creature of the night and only slept an hour or two just before dawn. As it was, he felt brimming with energy, which was good considering where he was. Harry was currently standing in a darkened corner of a rundown house, bidding his time. He had waited a good two and a half hours at Hogwarts before coming here just to ensure that the castle's inhabitants had completely gone to sleep and wouldn't notice his second departure.

Faster than light and more deadly than death, Harry whipped out his wand and severed the head of the large snake that had just started to slither past his hiding place. Its scaly head plopped down silently on the dust covered floor while the rest of its body twitched and bled out on the floor. Harry curled up his nose at the smell as he silently stepped over the dead creature and started up the stairs towards the only source of light in the entire house. When he reached the floor with the lit room, Harry put his back to the wall next to the door and in the shadows.

"What was that?" A rasping and dusty voice sounded from within the room after Harry used a spell to create a loud crashing sound downstairs.

"It sounded like someone breaking into the house my lord," the voice of Pettigrew said, sounding more confident than Harry had ever heard him. He repressed a snarl at the memory of the betrayer and had to force himself to keep as still as possible. "Shall I go check it out?"

"Yes!" The other voice, Voldemort obviously, ordered and Harry heard Pettigrew scramble to obey.

Little did they know, they had just played perfectly into Harry's hand. The minute Pettigrew was halfway between the doorway and the stairwell, Harry moved forward and jabbed his wand into the side of Pettigrew's neck. The man went ridged as black lines radiated from Harry's wand and spread over his neck and head. It was a little known spell that originated in South Africa several centuries ago by a sect of assassin wizards that specialized in gathering information before silencing their sources (and targets) so no one could maneuver behind their backs. If their sources proved particularly useful, they would use a spell to paralyze their sources so they could return for more information if necessary.

"It was nothing my lord," Harry quivered in a perfect imitation of Pettigrew as he lowered the paralyzed man to the floor and shuffled into the room. "Some muggle children decided to throw a rock through a window downstairs. Unfortunately they ran off before I got there so I couldn't punish them."

"There are times when I wonder why I put up with you Wormtail," Voldemort said in obvious exasperation, not noticing that it wasn't actually Wormtail he was speaking to since the chair he was sitting in was facing the fireplace with its back to the room's entrance.

"Because you need me sire," Harry groveled with a sneer as he glanced about the room. He saw several bottles on a table in the corner of the room. Some were empty while others still had a disgusting milky black liquid. "Who would feed you if I weren't here?" Harry asked as he went over to the collection and poured out half the contents of a bottle before pulling out a vial from a robe pocket and pouring _its_ contents in with the rest of the vile mixture in the bottle.

"I keep you because your groveling entertains me," Voldemort hissed with mild annoyance.

"None the less my lord," Harry said as he capped the bottle and moved back towards the chair, making sure to keep outside the line of Voldemort's sight. "You need to feed. You must keep your strength up if all is to go according to plan." Harry leaned over the back of the chair so Voldemort couldn't see him and placed the bottle in front of the half formed creature's mouth.

"Did you see Nagini while you were downstairs?" Voldemort asked after he had downed the entire contents of the bottle.

"The snake?" Harry questioned as he took the bottle back and dropped the façade of the groveling servant. "Oh, I wouldn't bother yourself about that hideous thing anymore if I were you. Poor thing's gone and lost its head."

"Who are you?" Voldemort tried to hiss vehemently but his intended effect was ruined by his sudden inability to properly control his malformed body.

"You know I should take offence to that," Harry said conversationally as he moved around the chair to stand between the fireplace and Voldemort. "After all, you did try to kill me. Then again, you've tried to kill everyone so I'm betting that their faces have all just blended together."

"I… wi…" Voldemort tried to speak but the potion Harry had slipped him was rendering him comatose.

"Awe," Harry said in mock pity as he squatted down to eyelevel with the deformed Dark Lord. "The big bad Dark Lord can no longer speak. Such a shame. Honestly I was expecting a bit more of a challenge from the supposed darkest wizard of the age." To ensure that the deformed creature wouldn't be a threat and just to prove his superiority, Harry picked up the wand that was lying in Voldemort's limp hand and snapped it in half. Voldemort didn't so much as twitch. He couldn't. The potion Harry had fed him not only paralyzed the body but neutralized the mind as well. "Now, I would normally get what I want from your blood but frankly you would probably give me indigestion. So instead, we're going to take a trip down memory lane."

Without further ado, Harry pointed his wand at Voldemort. His mind went tumbling through space and into Voldemort's mind. There was little resistance due to Harry's potion but the wizard, even in his weakened state was a powerful master of the mental magics and he was still able to fight Harry's intrusion, albeit poorly. For his part, Harry viciously dug his way through the psychotic wizards mind, searching each memory for any indication of how the man had escaped death thirteen years ago. His answer came in the form of a fairly recent memory of Voldemort killing a Ministry employee named Bertha Jorkins and then moving through the horrid process of splitting off a piece of his soul. Disgusted, Harry quickly ravaged the rest of Voldemort's mind for the location and identity of his other soul pieces.

"I almost pity you," Harry said when he had returned to his own mind. He looked down upon the disgusting creature. "And I probably would if you had turned out any different than you are now."

With a flick of his wand Voldemort's twig like throat split open, spilling milky black blood all down the chair and onto the floor. Not feeling like wasting time with walking outside, Harry blasted a hole in the ceiling to reveal the night sky. Once the dust cleared Harry cast the dark mark into the sky before he vanished into the night.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing of the Harry Potter universe but my own OC's

**A/N: **Hey everyone! Sorry for not posting anything any sooner. It's been one heck of a month and I've had almost no time to do any writing. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy the update! Happy Readings and please review and let me know what you guys think.

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CHAPTER FOUR

"So why am I here exactly?" Harry questioned the next morning with a slight yawn as he walked into Dumbledore's office. He had been up until five in the morning hunting down and destroying all of Voldemort's Horcruxes and had succeeded with all but one. One Horcrux, a necklace created by Salazar Slytherin had apparently been discovered and stolen without Voldemort's knowledge and now Harry was having difficulty locating it.

"Your recent behavior has been… reprehensible at best Harry," Dumbledore said disapprovingly as he watched from behind his desk as Harry casually walked around his office, poking and prodding at some of his devices. "I wish to know why you have been so unruly lately."

"Have I violated any school rules?" Harry questioned, completely ignoring Dumbledore's implied question. He picked up a double-ended teapot in mild curiosity and turned it this way and that in examination.

"No," Dumbledore said, causing Harry to smirk as he replaced the teapot and moved on to something else.

"Have I broken Ministry law?" Harry asked again, his smirk growing at the answer he knew was coming.

"No," Dumbledore said. The man went to continue speaking but Harry beat him to it.

"Then I hardly see how my behavior has been reprehensible," Harry said as continued his perusal of the various bits and bobs in Dumbledore's office. "Honestly, everyone in the castle with the exception of yourself and maybe Professor Snape views me as an upstanding student and you're only pissy because I haven't been kowtowing to your every whim like some slave."

"Now Harry I am not, as you put it, pissy and certainly not because of that," Dumbledore said, getting rather irritated at how Harry continually refused to look at him. "I am merely concerned why you have been sneaking around behind my back and lying to me."

"What on earth makes you think I've been lying and sneaking?" Harry questioned, looking the perfect combination of confused and innocent as he glanced over his shoulder at the old man.

"Shall we start with the location of your relatives?" Dumbledore asked almost in a purr, like a cat that had caught a mouse in mousetrap.

"What about them?" Harry questioned nonchalantly as he picked up a small silver bauble and held it up to the light in examination. His unconcerned attitude and they way he did not flinch at the mention of his relatives took some of the pleasure out of Dumbledore's stride but he continued nonetheless.

"You told me they were going to Iceland," Dumbledore said with a mild glare.

"Your point?" Harry asked. He was getting a little tired of the banter but he continued with his perusal of the dozens of silver objects and devices scattered throughout Dumbledore's office. "They moved to Iceland and I stayed behind. Big deal. Frankly I figured you would be happy I stayed in Britain, somewhere you can easily locate me so you can try to manipulate me."

"First of all," Dumbledore said, his ire showing at the blunt accusation. "I have never and would never do such a thing and I am hurt that you would think so little of me."

"Now who's lying?" Harry questioned in soft sarcasm but loud enough to be heard.

"_Second_ of all," Dumbledore practically growled as he ignored Harry's second barb. "I checked with the muggle and magical government in Iceland. Neither have any record of your relatives entering the country or establishing a residence there."

"Maybe they lied," Harry said with an unconcerned shrug of his shoulders. "Maybe they got tired of dealing with something they considered an unnatural freak of a burden to their family and cooked up the ruse of moving in order to get rid of me."

"You and I both know that isn't true." Dumbledore reprimanded.

"Really? Cause it sounds like something they would do." Harry practically growled back as he put down his latest examination with a little more force than usual. "After all, they stuffed me in a cupboard under their stairs for ten years before I started going to Hogwarts and they grew too terrified of being caught by the officials and getting busted on their child abuse."

"Stop lying Harry!" Dumbledore snapped angrily. Harry froze at that just as he was about to pick up another object. Dumbledore, thinking he had finally gained Harry's attention and not noticing the tension to Harry's shoulders, continued speaking, coincidentally covering the feral snarl that rolled out of Harry's mouth. "I checked with the local airports that your relatives would have gone to and found three tickets leaving London to–"

Dumbledore was forced to stop speaking and duck underneath his desk as a table suddenly went flying across the room and crashed into his throne like chair, a chair that had sat more than a hundred Headmasters of Hogwarts. The desk was followed by a blasting curse, which shattered the ancient chair. Another spell flew from Harry's wand and the desk Dumbledore usually sat behind but was now cowering beneath was set ablaze. Harry sent off another blasting curse that blew a hole in the top of the desk. Harry stalked forward, reached through the desk, gripped Dumbledore by his obscenely long grey hair, and lifted.

"If you ever," Harry growled as he pulled the cowed man through the wreckage of the ancient desk and hauled him over to a window, where he promptly dangled the man in the open air, over three hundred feet above the solid ground below. "Call me a liar again, _especially _about the abuse I was subjugated to at the hands of those bastards, then I will not hesitate to send you flying out of this window."

"Harry–!" Dumbledore started in a panic but was cut off once again as Harry let the man slip slightly.

"DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" He roared angrily and with a slightly manic gleam to his eyes.

"Yes, YES!" Dumbledore shouted as he scrambled to hold onto Harry's hand. Harry snarled as he hauled the aged wizard back inside and threw him across the room where he crashed against a wall, unfortunately very much alive. With a wave of his wand the damage done to the Headmaster's office was repaired, the fire was doused and the desk and chair were returned to their original state.

"You do not deserve the position you have found yourself in old man," Harry said as he started to calm down, though his demeanor was no less imposing to Dumbledore, who attempted to regain some form of dignity by not looking like a crumbled heap. "I would be careful if I were you. You might find yourself very far from where you are now and with less respect shown to an ant."

"I should have you expelled," Dumbledore panted out, his voice a mixture of fear, wonder, and anger.

"But you won't since then you wouldn't be able to keep an eye on me," Harry said, unfazed by the empty threat. "Now," he continued as he set about straightening his clothing, it having been messed up when he dangled the old man from the window. "As it is the weekend, I will be leaving the school grounds to attend to a business matter."

"You will be back on these grounds by dinner," Dumbledore said as he managed to regain his footing. He stared after Harry's retreating back as he continued. "To serve detention with Professor Snape for assaulting a staff member." Harry had paused halfway to the door but quickly continued and slammed the door behind him. He would let Dumbledore have this small win, he did assault the man after all, and really, it mattered little to him. Snape would be too apprehensive about giving Harry any of his more grueling detentions given what he knew about Harry's position so it would not be like a real detention.

Once Harry had gotten a fair distance from the Headmaster's office, he vanished. He used his enhanced speed to run all the way down to the end of the boundary line so he could Apparate back to his house in St. Ives. Upon appearing in the entryway, Harry was greeted by a house elf, who took his coat and asked if he would like a cup of blood to drink since he hadn't had his morning meal yet. Harry sent the elf off with an affirmative after asking where Sirius and Remus were.

"Harry?!" Sirius questioned in shock when Harry entered the dining hall and sat down "What are you doing here?"

"Taking a break and looking for you," Harry said as he took a sip from the glass that had appeared next to him. He sighed slightly as most of the tension drained from his shoulders. He had not realized before then that he had been getting hungrier than normal due to the stress from everything he had been doing over the past few days. "You have a fairly reasonable recollection of all the pureblood lines yes?"

"I don't know every line but most of the major ones since they've all interconnected with the House of Black at one time or another," Sirius said in confusion, still a little nonplused at Harry's arrival and subsequent questions. "Why?"

"Would you happen to know anyone with the initials…" Harry said as he dug a piece of paper out of his pocket and read the words again before passing the note off to Sirius. "R.A.B?"

"Didn't your brother have those initials?" Remus questioned curiously.

"Yes," Sirius said as he slowly lowered the note and looked up with a slightly pale look on his face. "And he was a Death Eater. And this is his handwriting. Where did you get this? And what is this secret he's talking about?"

"Horcruxes," Harry answered as he mulled this new bit of information over. Given that he had ravaged Voldemort's mind for every pertinent piece of information, Harry recalled Regulus Black. "They're Dark objects that house pieces of a wizard's soul and keep the person pinned to the realm of life, essentially making the person immortal. The process of making them is hideous and revolting and Voldemort ended up making six of them, five of which I've already destroyed. The only one left, the only one that is keeping Voldemort alive, is that necklace and it's gone missing thanks to your brother."

"Regulus has been missing and presumed dead for almost fifteen years now." Remus spoke up when Sirius seemed too stunned to speak.

"Hmmm, that is a bit of a problem," Harry said as he accepted the paper from the elf that had popped into the room with it. "Oh good they took forever to find them." He added absently when he noticed the headline on the front page. A picture of the Dark Mark Harry had cast covered most of the page followed by an article about how the Aurors had discovered a paralyzed Pettigrew and the murdered form of what they presumed to be the man's attempt at resurrecting the Dark Lord.

"I'm guessing you had something to do with this?" Remus questioned after perusing the front page when Harry had handed him the paper. He passed the paper off to Sirius to read.

"Yes, that's why I'm trying to find all of these Horcruxes," Harry said as he pulled out the fake locket and fiddled with it in thought. "So, your brother was a Death Eater who apparently defected and attempted to weaken the Dark Lord. The question, however, is how did he get the necklace out of that cave by himself?" Everyone was quiet as they either ate, thought, or read the _Prophet's _article. "Did your family have an elf Sirius?"

"Hmmm?" Sirius questioned, looking up from the article in the paper that he was reading, trying to wrap his mind around just who Harry had become. It wasn't that he had a major problem with it since Harry wasn't going around killing people but it was difficult given that he had spent the past two or three decades fighting all things dark. "Yeah, Kreature. Wretched little thing he was. He's probably still wandering around the house with no one for company but severed elf heads, my mother's painting, and various other creatures."

"Would you mind if I went and had a chat with him?" Harry inquired as he stuffed away the fake locket. "He might have been there to help your brother retrieve the locket."

"Have at it but I wouldn't expect to get much out of him." Sirius said with an unconcerned shrug. "The house is on Grimmauld Place. Number twelve." Sirius barely had a chance to finish his sentence before Harry Apparated from the room after downing the rest of his drink. He and Remus looked to each other in mild surprise and a small amount of annoyance before they simply shook their heads and went about finishing their meals.

As for Harry, he reappeared near the heart of London on Grimauld Place. He quickly crossed the empty street and stepped up the path to the abandoned town house that reeked of Dark magic. He passed unhindered through the weak wards around the house and into the hallway. The darkened hall of Grimauld Place was covered in dust, grime, and _magic_. The aura of Dark magic would be detected from a mile away on the outside but on the inside it was almost unbearable, even for a dark creature like Harry. As it was, Harry managed to ignore the stink and focus on other things, such as the low and inconsistent rustling that could be heard throughout the entire house.

"A stranger in the House of Black," a gruff and withered voice sounded from the far end of the hall, drawing Harry's eyes to see a decrepit house elf that looked at least two hundred years old. "So long it has been since someone has walked these halls. How my mistress would wail at having such filth walking her halls."

"I would watch your tongue elf," Harry snipped with a small growl. "I'm not in the best of moods and you may end up losing your life should you push me."

"I know your face," Kreature said in his dusty voice. "You're the boy who stopped the Dark Lord."

"And you're the elf who conspired with Regulus Black to bring down that very same Dark Lord," Harry said, reigning in his temper a little bit. It would not do to slaughter the impertinent elf before he got his answers. Besides, it was not the elf's fault that it had gone mad.

"How do you know that?" Kreature said, sounding terrified and in pain at the same time.

"I found this somewhere it did not belong," Harry said as he held up the fake Horcrux locket. Kreature froze at the sight of the locket and he started looking decidedly nervous. "If Kreature is good I might let you have it back. If you help me Kreature, I can make it so you're no longer wandering around an empty house with nothing better to do than push dust around."

Kreature moaned, almost as if he were in pain. "What is it you wish to know?"

"You went to the cave with your master Regulus," Harry said, not making it a question as he moved closer towards the elf. "I'm guessing he drank the potion and you fled with the locket with the order to destroy it. What I need to know is where that locket is and if you managed to succeed in destroying it."

"Kreature tried everything," Kreature said almost desperately as he eyed the locket like a starved man would eye a four course gourmet meal. "But nothing would work. No matter what Kreature did or how badly he damaged it, the locket would always repair itself. All these long years I have hidden it, kept it safe since I couldn't destroy it."

"Bring me the locket Kreature," Harry said as he hung the locket around the elf's withered head. "Bring it to me and I'll fulfill your master's last wish." Kreature hesitated briefly in thought, likely looking at the situation from all angles, but the necklace dangling around his neck proved too much and he quickly popped out of the room and then popped back with the requested object.

Harry picked up the locket from the elf's spindly little hands. He dangled it from his fingers for a few moments in examination. Quicker than Kreature could register, Harry smashed the locket between his hands, lacing his skin with a dark spell only he knew. The soul piece screeched, even as Harry ground the locket to dust between his palms. A small cloud of Dark magic was released into the air but it quickly dissipated and Harry allowed the dust to fall to the ground.

"Now," Harry said as he turned his gaze back to Kreature, who was staring down at the locket around his neck in fascination, as if it held the secrets of life. "Do you wish to remain in this house or do you wish to work for me, where you'll be treated respectfully and will have plenty of work to do?"

"Kreature's family has served the House of Black for generations," Kreature said somewhat nervously. "I cannot simply choose to change families, even if I've no one left to serve."

"And if I were to consult with the current Lord Black and he agreed to allow the transfer?" Harry asked with a quirked eyebrow. "From what I understand he wouldn't have a problem with the transfer." Kreature was silent for several moments as he thought the offer over. Then, very hesitantly, Kreature gave the most imperceptible of nods. "Then report to my head elf Mipsy. She will provide you with work. Just inform her that you are not to work in the same house as Sirius Black."

Harry sighed once the elf had vanished. He took a few moments to himself before he disappeared with a small wisp of dust. He returned briefly to his house in St. Ives to discuss the transfer of Kreature with Sirius and make everything final before he vanished again and returned to Hogwarts. It was only just past lunch, his activities having taken up the entire morning, so Harry strolled leisurely through the gates and up towards the castle. He did not care that he was walking towards a supposed detention. Snape would be too apprehensive of him to attempt to assert any sort of authority over him.

"So," Harry said as he walked into Snape's office after being granted entrance. "I take it you have spoken with Dumbledore."

"Yes," Snape drawled as he gestured for Harry to have a seat in a chair in front of his desk. "Though he refused to explain to me why he was having you serve detention with me."

"He wasn't particularly thrilled with the fact that I threw a table at him and dangled him from the window by his withered hair." Harry said with some amusement as he recalled the incident. "He practically begged for it though when he called me a liar when I told him how those wretched muggles treated me."

"You," Snape said haltingly as he attempted to restrain his own amusement. It was clear that there was no love lost between the Potions Master and the Headmaster. "You dangled him from a window? By his hair?"

Harry nodded and said, "Frankly I'm surprised that his hair didn't just fall out given its age."

"I'm more surprised over the fact that he didn't expel you on the spot," Snape said as the reality of what Harry had said slowly sank in. He truly did not care about what happened to Dumbledore given the things the old man had put him through over the years, but he was surprised that at the Headmaster's lack of action against such a blatant attack.

"He wants me where he can try and manipulate me," Harry said with an unconcerned shrug as he picked at one of his fingernails. "He thinks to use me as some sort of weapon in the war against Voldemort and then against the rest of the wizarding world, or something like that. Too bad for him, Voldemort is dead and gone and won't be coming back ever again."

"Care to elaborate?" Snape questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Did you read the paper today?" Harry questioned as he looked back up at Snape. At the man's nod he continued. "Well that was me. I do not know what the paper actually reported but Pettigrew and Voldemort were hiding out in that old manor. After some… digging," he said this bit with a particularly nasty smirk. "I set that up to get the authorities' attention. While they were busy tending to my little present I set about finding and destroying objects called Horcruxes, of which there were six."

"Six?" Snape questioned in complete disbelief. Being a dabbler of the Dark Arts, he knew what a Horcrux was but he had never before heard of someone creating six of the horrid things. Hell, not even _he _had considered even considering making such a disturbing object.

"Six," Harry confirmed with a nod. "They're all gone though. Destroyed them all during the night."

"So the war is finally over?" Snape questioned, having trouble comprehending the fact that the war that had marked most of his and all of Harry's life was finally finished.

"Yup," Harry said matter-of-factly, as if what he had done was nothing more than walking from Hogwarts to Hogsmeade. "Now we just have to endure the stupidity of one moronic Headmaster."

–Scene Break–

Dumbledore sat in his office trying desperately not to think of what had happened earlier that day. He adamantly refused to believe that he had been shaken as badly as he had been. The sheer ferocity behind Harry's actions had been bone chilling to say the least. It had also made him realize that perhaps he had made a mistake in placing the Boy-who-lived with his muggle relatives. Especially when he considered how it had all ended up.

He had done such similar things many times in the past or, rather, something similar. During his work with Grindelwald, he had come to view how valuable muggleborns could be when it came to ruling the wizarding world. They were quickly coming to outnumber the purebloods, even back then and while Grindelwald wanted them purely for slave labor, much in the way Voldemort wanted them; Dumbledore had come to think that if they could keep the muggleborns under control then he would have the world in his pocket. This led to the fall out between the two and why Dumbledore had been forced to take action against his long time friend.

With Grindelwald out of the way, Dumbledore had been free to shape the world, or at least his little corner of it, to his liking. Over the years he had become very good at leaving muggleborns in abusive situations and appearing as their savior or being the kind hearted grandfatherly figure that helped introduce the new witches and wizards into a world they knew nothing about. Both scenarios had worked wonders and he had slowly come into a very favorable position that allowed him to expand his work.

To date, he had more muggleborn connections around the globe and in the ministry than most of the pureblood families. Only the Malfoy family could out match his network and Dumbledore was hoping that due to their connection with the Dark Lord, their connections would dwindle and the powerful family would be put out of business or at the very least restrict their power greatly from what it was. So far, that had yet to happen but he still held out hope.

Then there was Harry. When Dumbledore had first heard of the prophecy surrounding the boy he had, at first, not understood a single lick of it. Divination was, is, and always would be one of his most hated subjects. However, the more he had mulled it over the more he had come to, partly, understand its meaning. He had, at the time, not known to which boy the prophecy referred as it could have easily meant Neville Longbottom as well as Harry Potter. Thus was why he had set both families up to see which family Tom would go for, telling the Potters of the prophecy and having them use Peter as secret keeper instead of Sirius and keeping the Longbottoms ignorant and out in the open.

When Harry had been marked, Dumbledore had gone into immediate action. He manipulated Remus into believing that Harry would not be safe with him and it was easier done than said to get Sirius out of the way since everyone had believed him to be the Potter's secret keeper. With the infant in his control, Dumbledore had known just what to do with him. Since the boy could not be considered a muggleborn, that he could act the dotting grandfather with, Dumbledore had opted to go with the abused and savior scenario and since the Dursley's were actually related to Harry, it made everything perfect.

Harry's first year at Hogwarts had gone as planned almost to a T and it had only served to ingratiate the boy to him even more and to impress upon the boy a hero complex so deep that no one could up root it. His second year had been rather unexpected but had played into Dumbledore's plans rather well, which is why he had allowed it to happen. The same was true for Harry's third year.

This year on the other hand was not going very well. Something had happened during the boy's summer that Dumbledore simply could not figure out and it had served to change the boy in ways Dumbledore had not expected. Somehow, Dumbledore wasn't sure how, Harry had managed to convince the Dursley's to sign away their rights as Harry's legal guardians and simultaneously giving the boy full access to the Potter estate, which was as large as the Malfoy's. Then Harry had quite effectively ensured Sirius' freedom and reinstatement to the public eye.

Then there was this morning, the very thing that Dumbledore had no wish to contemplate. He was certain that whatever had caused Harry's change over the summer had resulted in his change of attitude towards the esteemed Headmaster he had witnessed during the meeting at the bank and then again throughout the school year. However, Dumbledore had not thought that the boy would ever attack him, _ever_. Not to mention hang him from a window over a thousand feet in the air, by nothing more than his withered and grey hair.

Albus sighed heavily and took a small sip of the glass of whiskey he had been nursing for the past hour or so. For once in his long life, he was at a complete loss of what to do. He could only hope that the detention with his least favorite teacher would straighten things out but he was not holding his breath. He would just have to try to draw up some plans to get the boy to behave.

–Scene Break–

Harry leaned casually up against the wall of the great hall and watched those gathered with a calculating eye. Tonight was the Yule Ball, a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament, and though he had not come with a date, he had still attended simply for the desire to socialize. Being a vampire, it was a biological urge to socialize since they had a tendency to get severely depressed if they were isolated. This depression, depending on the vampire, could lead to death, usually self-inflicted. That was the reason why the vampire race had been in such a decline. When it had been popular to hunt them down, the remaining vampires went into hiding but when they could not openly socialize the way they used to, the clans had fallen farther and farther into a depressive and destructive spiral. Soon, it had gotten to the point where only vampires like Harry, whose immortality was absolute, had survived. Unfortunately, that had not been enough. Those alone who had outlasted the ages had found a way to end their immortality. Thus was why they had left the record, for one who might carry their gene so they would know, so they could change.

"I'm surprised," a bored drawl sounded as Draco walked up and leaned up against the wall next to Harry. "I would have thought that a social bug such as you would have danced with at least half the school by now. Particularly since half the school is enamored with you. I really must compliment you on that. Not one ounce of magic used and yet you have almost everyone fawning over you."

"Do I detect a hint of jealousy in your voice?" Harry inquired with obvious amusement.

"Only regards into _how _they fawn over you," Draco admitted with a shrug. He paused briefly as he looked out over the gathering, picking out certain people and monitoring their progress across the room. "Due to my families slightly less than favorable reputation I get a rather different sort of attention from everyone."

"I can understand that," Harry said with an agreeing nod as he too monitored certain people within the dancing and mingling crowd. He smirked in great amusement as he watched a thoroughly flushed Hermione dance with Viktor Krum. His smirk grew nasty when he saw Weasley sitting in a corner sulking due to his lack of a date and jealousy over both Krum and Hermione. "I have been meaning to ask you about that. Do you know at all why your father has crafted such a reputation?"

"Because he's a cruel bastard," Draco asked, keeping a tight control over his voice and his emotions. "His father, Abraxas arranged a marriage between him and my mother but he never knew of the simply cruel ambition that drove his son. Once I was conceived, Lucius had Abraxas killed so he could take over as Lord Malfoy. Before then, the Malfoy family had a much different reputation. When he finally had control, Lucius tied himself to the Dark Lord and begun his reign."

"Like minds, like hearts," Harry said in understanding. "Your father wants power and he thought to gain it by working for Voldemort, who wanted the same thing."

"Exactly," Draco said with a smirk as he turned to look at Harry directly. "I am pleased to know though that you saved many a Slytherin from being forced into service." His smirk grew into mild chuckles at the simple way Harry raised his eyebrow in surprised question. "Severus told me. Everyone in Slytherin felt the stirrings, particularly those with… certain parents. Those old enough to know the implications started panicking, well panicking for Slytherins anyways." He amended when Harry snorted in disbelief. As if a Slytherin could be anything but calm. "Several of us had heard the stories of the Dark Lord, most of us did our own research into the topic and none liked what they had found. When the whispers began to spread, we all gathered to try and think of ways to avoid such a fate."

"Well I am happy to be of service." Harry said, making a half-mocking bow to the other boy. Truly, he was happy to have helped so many to avoid such an unpleasant fate. His goal in making the bow was simply to elicit a laugh from the other boy, which of course he succeeded in doing. "Perhaps they will be willing to aid me in toppling the Headmaster."

"I didn't think he was of any concern to you?" Draco said with mild surprise.

"He isn't," Harry said with a slightly put upon sigh as he allowed his gaze to travel over to the aged and withered man who was currently going through a slow waltz with McGonagall of all people. He did not particularly care who the man danced with he just found it somewhat surprising. "He's just been rather irksome lately, trying all sorts of ludicrous things to get me back under his control. It's getting rather irritating and is interfering with my plans."

"Hmmm," Draco hummed as he mulled things over. He had no idea what plans Harry was referring to; almost no one knew what the powerful teen lord was up to, not even Hermione. However, he did not particularly care given that he knew that Harry was not out to become a Dark Lord. "I doubt there's a Slytherin currently attending Hogwarts that wouldn't love to see that old, arrogant bastard kicked out of the castle. Unfortunately, given that particular house's previous opinion of you, I doubt many would willingly help you."

"And yet," Harry said as he gestured for Draco to follow him before he led the way out of the hall to take a small stroll around the grounds. It was a beautiful winter night and Harry always enjoyed being outside. "Not a single member of your house, save for yourself, has dared to approach me this year."

"Snakes live close to the ground Harry," Draco chuckled with amusement thick in his voice. "Next to the insects, they are the first to hear whispers. Everyone in Slytherin, even the younger years, knows that a power shift is taking place in Hogwarts and they all know you are at the center. The other houses will only catch on once you've really started making waves. As for me," Draco gave a small shrug of his shoulders even as he chuckled slightly. "I think you can figure out my change of attitude, especially since you gave me a heart attack on Halloween."

Harry burst into giggles at the memory of just how the blond had reacted when Harry had caught him in the library. "I'll give you that. Do you think they would help _you _more than they would me?"

"Probably," Draco said after a moment's thought and sidestepping a rock as he and Harry moved out into the gardens near the greenhouses. "Most of the fourth year Slytherins are all of similar mind as myself, with a few exceptions that are diehard supporters of the Dark Lord, those that had it ingrained into them from birth the superiority of the Dark Lord. The other years are a little harder to judge since I did not grow up with them but there are those in my year with siblings in other years. Those would be the best keys to the older and younger years in Slytherin."

"Good, good," Harry said nodding as he thought that over. "If you can take care of the snakes, I'm certain I can take care of the other houses."

"How're you going to get him out of office though?" Draco questioned curiously, as he looked over at Harry, who had paused momentarily to stroke the petal of a lily and smell its delicate smell, a look of sorrow on his face. "Most of Britain and half of Europe looks up to him like a god or some such." He continued, tactfully allowing Harry his privacy.

"Trust me," Harry said with a nasty smile. "It can take years to build a good reputation but only one second to have it blow up in your face."

Draco smirked just as nastily as Harry did as he recalled all the times the public had run Harry through hell simply because of a rumor. He could not wait to see what the vampire had in store for Dumbledore.

–Scene Break–

"Honestly Weasley," Harry said with obvious exasperation in his voice. He was sitting in the Great Hall calmly pretending to eat breakfast while simultaneously enjoying the fact that everything was going to plan. It was currently January and the first day of term and he had a perfect, captive audience. "You're quite possibly the densest creature on the planet and with Trolls out there that's saying something."

Weasley, the hot head that he was, had been ranting for the past three minutes over how Hermione was fraternizing with the enemy by going out with Krum and how the famous Seeker was probably only going out with her to get to Harry. Why the redhead thought _that_ was beyond any of them. Harry thought it might have something to do with the potion that Harry had been covertly feeding him over the past week specifically for this moment. It was a potion that he had personally designed, with a little assistance from an unsuspecting, or rather unquestioning Potions Master. The potion was designed to lower a person's inhibitions when it came to their darker side.

"Excuse me!" Weasley demanded, his face turning a darker shade of red than his hair.

"Seriously, if you had bothered to think at all over this situation you might just see things differently," Harry said in a slightly condescending tone that everyone nearby could easily pick up on. It helped that Weasley's outburst had caused most of the hall to look over at them to see what was happening. Everyone in the school had already learned of the almost complete break between Harry and Ron so they were all expecting some good fireworks. "For starters, you might have realized that the entire point of this tournament is to improve international relations. For an entrée, if you excuse the pun," he continued, making Weasley grow redder while the other students snickered at Harry's subtle play of words. "You would've noticed that Viktor doesn't need to go through Hermione to get to me, as you so crudely put it, because he and I are already friends. He actually came to me before asking Hermione out because he wasn't sure if she and I were dating since most of the time he saw her was with me studying in the library."

"Why didn't he just ask me?" Hermione questioned in confusion. She did not really have a problem she was just confused and curious.

"Because he's actually rather shy," Harry said quietly so only Hermione, who was sitting right next to him, could hear. He was not about to spread around something private about a friend when he hated it when that was done to him. "And marginally old fashioned. Besides, he also wanted tips on how to approach you since you're almost always buried in some book."

"Hey!" Hermione cried indignantly at the same time Weasley, finally pushed beyond his limits, stood up and shouted, "Incendio!"

Harry had been expecting such a curse, though admittedly not that particular one and he had seen the spell coming. He could have dodged the spell, easily, or he could have countered it but that would have ruined his plans. Instead, Harry allowed the spell to make contact, pushing himself backwards and onto the floor. His entire body erupted in flames while half the hall erupted in screams of outrage, shock, and fear. Even though he did not feel any pain, Harry writhed, flailed and let out a blood-chilling scream of pain. He also made sure to keep his regenerative abilities at bay so he would appear as if he were actually burning. Hermione, who had been in on Harry's plan, paused just long enough before she fired off a stunner at Weasley.

"What is going on?" McGonagall screeched as she came swooping down from the Head Table, doing a remarkable imitation of Snape. Hermione had been seconds away from turning and dousing Harry but McGonagall beat her to it with a stream of water from the tip of her wand.

"My idiot hot head of a brother attacked Harry Professor," Ginny said angrily as she kept her wand trained on her unconscious brother.

"Didn't think our brain dead brother," Fred said with a scowl as he picked up Weasley's wand and stuffed it in his pocket.

"Would do something so monumentally stupid," George finished with an identical scowl as his twin.

"Goes to show where his friendship gets you." Dean practically snarled as Madam Pomfrey, who had been mere heartbeats behind McGonagall levitated Harry and quickly took the quietly whimpering boy from the hall and to the Hospital Wing. Hermione quickly followed, leaving McGonagall to deal with Weasley, already knowing the poor punishment that Weasley would receive.

Hermione caught up with Madam Pomfrey just as she rushed through the doors of the Hospital Wing. The nurse quickly put Harry on the nearest bed and started casting spells and summoning burn ointment from her cupboards. Hermione was not truly worried given what she knew about Harry's situation but between the severe looking burns on his body and the flash Occlumency training he had given her at The Louvre, Hermione did a very good job at acting panicked and concerned.

She paced back and forth, quietly so she did not disturb Pomfrey and her ministrations. After so long, Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape entered the wing and waited patiently for the nurse to finish. Snape, having some training in the medical arts due to the last war and having been on the receiving end of this very nurse's work, came forward and started assisting the witch. He did not know about Harry's plans or that Harry was not really injured but he was only adding to the authenticity of Harry's plans. When the three adults had entered the room, Hermione had felt a Legilimency probe from the Headmaster when she made eye contact with the man. Thankfully, she had broken contact before he could notice her shields and she barely managed to suppress a sneer of derision at his actions.

"He's stable," Pomfrey finally said as she straightened up and wiped her brow. "And the burns are reacting will to the paste, surprisingly well actually. They should be fully healed in a few days."

"That is wonderful news," Dumbledore said with relief in his voice. Hermione noticed something else as well but she had trouble placing exactly what she was hearing. "Your skills truly are remarkable Madam Pomfrey."

"What is being done about Weasley?" Hermione questioned, playing her part well as she went to stand next to Harry's bed. Concern showed easily on her face but there was also anger and a righteous look that said she would not stop until she had justice.

"He will be serving detention with me for the rest of the month," Snape said with a somewhat sour look on his face. It was quite clear that he did not like the meager punishment given to the Weasley.

"That's it!" Hermione said in outrage, though she had expected such a punishment.

"Over a hundred points have also been deducted," Dumbledore said in an attempt to placate the irate witch.

"I don't care about points!" Hermione very nearly growled as she glared death at the aged man before her. "The minimum punishment for cursing another student with such a dangerous and deadly curse is suspension for a _minimum _of three months."

"Now Miss Granger," Dumbledore said with a slightly reproving look, as he looked her directly in the eye. This time, Hermione did not bother to hide the fact that she knew Occlumency and took great satisfaction in seeing the slight widening of Dumbledore's eyes when he encountered them. He recovered quickly though and continued speaking. "I'm certain that Mr. Weasley regrets his actions. There is no reason to ruin his future over one little incident."

"One little…" Hermione said in disbelief. Expected or not, it was still difficult to listen to a man try and down play an attack on one student from another. A prank was one thing but this was an _attack. _Sure, it was not premeditated but that was _not _the point.

"I think it would be best if everyone left," Pomfrey interjected, seeing that the teen witch was two steps away from ripping the Headmaster a new eye socket. Frankly, she wanted to do the same thing but she had long since learned not to argue with Dumbledore when he had made up his mind on something. She would give the man a piece of her mind, even in this, but she knew there was nothing she could to do to change the man's mind. "Mr. Potter needs his rest and he's not about to get it with you all in here arguing."

"Quite right," McGonagall said as she grabbed Dumbledore's arm and started leading the man from the Hospital Wing. She was of similar mind as Poppy and just like the matron; she could not do much to change the man's mind. She may be the Deputy Headmistress, a position that held a great deal of power in Hogwarts, but Dumbledore could still over rule her.

Hermione conjured a chair, sat down, and _looked_ at Madam Pomfrey, daring her to force her out of the ward. She was therefore surprised when Pomfrey merely smirked at her before turning to Harry and tapping him twice on the forehead. As if that had been some prearranged signal, Harry's eyes snapped open. He took a small rattling breath, emitting a small cloud of smoke, before he allowed his skin to start healing. It was like watching a movie on fast forward or something similar. Harry's skin went from dried, cracked, and black to flawless in a matter of minutes.

"Why didn't you tell me you were going to involve her?" Hermione questioned in mild annoyance once Harry had fully healed and he was sitting up, easily figuring out that Harry had involved Madam Pomfrey in his plans.

"Because it would have hampered your acting," Harry said easily with a shrug, not about to repent for his actions. "I'm sorry Hermione but even with Occlumency at your disposal, you're still a bad liar."

"I thought she did very well actually," Pomfrey said, coming to the pouting girl's defense.

"Be that as it may," Snape interjected before the others could continue speaking. "Perhaps you would care to inform me as to what is going on?"

"Sorry Professor," Harry said with a small smile that did nothing to quell the slightly ticked glare he was receiving from the Potions Master. "I figured you would have preferred plausible deniability rather than having to outright lie in case anyone started asking questions." When Snape's glare did not relent, Harry continued. "We," he gestured at Hermione, Pomfrey, and himself. "And I'm sure you do as well, believe that Dumbledore is no longer fit to run this school, particularly if he's going to use it as his own personal training ground. So, we devised a plan to make sure he was removed from office."

"If you can make enough of a ruckus with the parents when they find out about the Boy-Who-Lived being attacked and the person responsible being so meekly punished…" Snape said his voice trailing off as he easily caught on to the plan that was currently in play by the powerful teen lord. "I am surprised though. Your condition and situation with Weasley notwithstanding, I did not think you would destroy someone's future just to obtain your goals."

"That's the brilliance of it though," Harry said with a pleased, yet entirely nasty smirk on his face. "I didn't. I may have brewed the potion and pinned all the blame on that hotheaded menace but I knew, we all knew, how Dumbledore would punish Weasley, a displeasing punishment that would not really put a black mark on the boy's record. Since I was truly the cause this wasn't going to be a problem but it would fit perfectly with our plans."

"And since Weasley needs to get a hold on that temper of his and is famous for losing it, he was the perfect patsy." Snape said with an understanding nod and a small chuckle of appreciation. "Very Slytherin Harry, very Slytherin."

"Well they do tend to have the best plans," Harry said with a snicker and then added, "And the hat did want to put me there after all." He could not help the laugh that burst from his lips at the shocked and indignant sputtering that Snape suddenly degraded into, along with Hermione who had not known that little tidbit.

"When you have stopped laughing," Madam Pomfrey said with twitching lips as she watched Harry laugh at his two sputtering cohorts. "Remember to glamour yourself. I'm going to keep you here until the end of the week to keep up the façade."

"Th-thank you Madam Pomfrey," Harry said as he regained control of his laughter.


End file.
